Cargill launches Halal pork fat replacer
replace the pork fat used in many meat products with restructured
vegetable fat.
The solution, called Adrogel GR, is claimed to be ideal for use as a Halal alternative to pork meat-based ingredients, and looks to tap the market potential of 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide (www.islamicpopulation.com).
"Adrogel GR allows food manufacturers to produce meat products that meet Halal requirements, while still benefiting from the functional qualities associated with pork fat," said the company in a statement.
"Adrogel GR enables cost savings and provides health benefits being vegetable derived, it has a lower fat content than pork, making it ideally suited to 'light' products."
The product can be prepared with cold water and vegetable oil to produce a restructured vegetable fat. Cargill claimed that the ingredient has a white colour and consistency close to that of back pork fat, and can be cut into small pieces for use in meat such as turkey and poultry sausages.
Pork fat is widely used in the food industry because of its ready availability, higher melting point and relatively good taste compared to poultry or beef fats.
Sometimes pork fat is emulsified in the meat paste and is non-visible, for example in cooked sausages such as Frankfurters. Other meat products contain visible white pieces of fat in the meat, such as hamburgers.
The function of this fat is not only decorative but also to improve the organoleptic characteristics such as texture and succulence.
"Meeting the challenge of providing a pork fat substitute was an interesting technical challenge, and we are extremely pleased with the result," said Frederic Ballber, meat application lead for Europe-Middle-East-Africa for Cargill Texturising Solutions.
"Adrogel GR is a healthy option, which is suitable for Muslim consumers - a very significant market for food manufacturers. The fact that Adrogel GR helps cut production costs is another huge benefit, and Im sure it will have many uses in meat products."
Cargill Texturising Solutions is one of the world's leading suppliers of texturisers and emulsifiers to the global food and beverage industry. Cargill has 149,000 employees in 63 countries.
