Pressure and temperature enhance meat safety

Researchers in the US are claiming that that a combination of high temperature and high pressure during the preparation of processed meats may reduce the presence of infective prions.

The research was carried out by the National Institute of Health, Bethesda, US, by Dr Paul Brown and his colleagues, who claim that the innovation enhances the safety of meat without affecting the taste, texture and appearance.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), is thought to enter the human food chain through beef products containing abnormal proteins known as prions. In humans the disease manifests itself as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). Processes such as autoclaving and exposure to strong alkali, have been shown to destroy prions, however these techniques are not suitable for use in food preparation.

A combination of high temperature and pressure has been used commercially to reduce the amount of pathogenic bacteria in foodstuffs for approximately 15 years.

The team experimented with this technology to see if it had any effect on prions. The researchers prepared a paste of hamster adapted scrapie brain tissue mixed with hot dogs. The mix was exposed to short pressure pulses of 690, 1,00, and 1,200 MPa (up to approximately 100,000 psi) at running temperatures of 121 Centigrade 137 Centigrade.

The research found that the texture and flavour of the processed meat was retained, while reducing the prions to what is thought to be a non infective level. This process is a relatively inexpensive, practical step to potentially improve the safety of processed meats. The technology also offers the potential to study phase transition of the prion from its normal to the misfolded state.