Sausage and cold meat

Description of product

There are three different kinds of sausage: raw, cooked and boiled sausages.

After adding salt, saltpetre, sugar and spices, raw sausages are made from chopped, raw meat from the skeleton, muscle tissue, and fat tissue. A distinction is drawn between "spreading" raw sausage (e.g. tea sausage spread or "mettwurst sausage" (a type of spreadable German cold meat) and hard, cured sausage (e.g. salami).
Cooked sausages are made from previously braised (or fried) or cooked pork, fat tissue, offal or blood. After seasoning the raw materials, these are stuffed into a sausage casing and reheated. Example: black pudding, cooked mettwurst, liverwurst.
Scalded sausages are made from raw meat from the skeleton, muscle tissue, fat tissue and selected offal. The meat is chopped, seasoned and warmed. The added water makes the scalded sausages juicy and firm. Example: "Wiener"-wurst, mortadella, leberkäse (liver loaf), Bratwurst (fried sausage).

• A full declaration of the ingredients is only required for packaged raw meat and sausages. The percentage of animal parts components, as well as specification of the type of animal and other ingredients, spices and additives must be specified on the label.
• With bulk products, the manufacturer must provide on a separate label information on ingredients such as phosphate, sorbitol, milk protein and milk.
• Other descriptions: raw meat, sausages, ham, salami, leberkäse (liver loaf).

Possible application of gene technology

The usage of GM technology is possible in the following ingredients that often are found in sausages and raw meat. However, no statements can be made on the extent to which these presumptions are applicable to a specific product.

• Ascorbic acid and/or vitamin C: antioxidant, stabilizes the colour of the sausage.
• Sweeteners as a collective name for different types of sugar and starch saccharification products. Sweeteners as well as ascorbic acid support the applied nitrite curing salt in the process of the "curing": the muscle colourant (myoglobin) is transformed into its heat-stable and durable variety.
• Milk protein or whey powder, milk sugar, lactose
• Dextrins, maltodextrins
• Emulsifiers,e.g. mono-and diglycerides
• Flavour enhancer (glutamate), also spices or aromas
• Since it already was common to use vegetable ingredients in sausages and raw meat in some of the European neighbouring countries, this is now permitted in the whole of the EU. This could apply to: soy protein or vegetable protein product.
• Glucose
• Thickening agent cellulose

In some cases, enzymes also could be applied for the use of raw meat and sausages.

• Proteases: improvement of tenderness and of the aromas of raw meat. Separation of the remaining meat from the bones (for further procession in sausages).
• Transglutaminases: improvement of texture of scalded sausages, to merge different parts of meat, e.g. for "formschinken" (a certain type of German ham "formed" from different parts of meat).

Fodder: the fodder used for livestock farming could include different raw materials and additives for which GM technology could have played a role.