Course:FNH200/Assignments/2021/Plant-based meat

The Very Good Butchers

This interview is conducted virtually with Yu Watanabe, who is a line technician at The Very Good Butchers. The Very Good Butchers is a business that manufactures and sells plant-based meat substitutes. Yu introduces us to the different techniques and noteworthy ingredients that are used to create plant-based meat. He also walks us through the procedures of food handling safety and technology.

Analysis and Summary of the Interview

Notable Ingredients, Allergens, and Food Substitutions

Acids

As said from the interview, while beans, barley, carrots, and onions make up the structure and texture of the meat product itself, apple cider vinegar is used to provide flavour to the food product. While vinegar can also act as a preservative to lower the overall pH of the food to slow down spoilage-causing bacterial growth (as we learned from the preservation chapters), it is not used for that purpose in the case of the meat products due to many of the base ingredients (wheat and carrots for example are >5.1 pH) being low acid foods, with pH high enough that it would take large amounts of vinegar to bring the pH level below 4.6 where spoilage-causing organisms do not grow. It is interesting how the interviewee mentioned apple cider vinegar as we already covered this topic in Ch1 where we process the apple juice by adding yeast, and then bacteria to make the vinegar.

Gluten

Wheat gluten and barley are added to virtually all plant-based meat products sold by the company. These ingredients, as we learned from Ch2, act as thickening and gelling agents. They are added as an ingredient in the meat before being grilled. As the meat is grilled, the starch undergoes the gelatinization process, absorbing water and expanding to form the texture and structure of the meat. Active yeast doesn’t seem to be used, according to the ingredients list, which means that there is no leavening and forming of as much solid foam emulsion as seen with other wheat products like bread.

For the majority, if not all, of The Very Good Butcher’s plant-based meats, wheat gluten is a key ingredient that can be found in the labelling of the products. Gluten is a protein naturally found in wheat, and is processed by hydrating wheat flour to activate/form gluten, then processed to remove the starch. This process leaves only the protein, which includes two water-insoluble sub-proteins - gluten and gliadin - which forms strands that strengthens dough and acts as a glue to hold the plant-based mix together (M.N. Riaz, 2004).

Substitution

An interesting thing to note in terms of ingredient substitution is that some meats and cheese use a form of ingredient called nutritional yeast. This is baker’s yeast that has been deactivated and used as a cheese substitute in their plant-based cheese products as well as in their plant-based meats. It contains all essential amino acids, making it a great source of protein, as well as vitamin B and a healthy amount of calcium, zinc, and potassium . Because the yeast is inactive, it does not take part in any fermentation processes covered in Ch9 and is likely used to provide and make up for the nutrition that would have been normally found in real meat and milk.

Natural Flavourings

The Very Good Butchers use natural flavourings that are supplied by Fontana Flavourings. Their website states that the flavourings are derived from natural and plant-derived ingredients including potato maltodextrin, salt, yeast extract or mushroom, sunflower oil, and spice extracts. Potato maltodextrin is a polysaccharide that consists of D-glucose units, and is used as a substitute for sugar, as well as used as a thickening agent (Hofman, 2015). When added into the bean mixture, it enhances the flavour as well as adds to the binding of the mix. Similarly, they use yeast extract as another flavour enhancing protein. Yeast extract contains glutamic acid (amino acid) which is responsible for the  ‘umami’ flavour, same as mushrooms. This enhances savoury note, so it can also be a substitute for part of the salt that would  have been used instead.

Packaging and Preservation

The Very Good Butchers take microbiology and microorganisms concerns very seriously in order to prevent contamination during food processing. The more food is handled and processed, the more likely it is to pick up harmful microorganisms. During the processing, the food can get easily contaminated from contact with dirty surfaces, equipment or food handlers with unsanitized hands. This is why at the operational sector of food processing everything is thoroughly sterilized and sanitized, and the facility members are required to wear full PPE. If not properly handled the plant-based meat becomes susceptible to a source of harmful bacteria and pathogens such as: Cyclospora, E.coli, Salmonella, Listeria, Hepatitis A and many more.

Most of these bacteria can provoke symptoms such as fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea but lack of treatment can cause serious health issues. Since a lot of spices are being used for the plant-based meat, bacterias such as Bacillus and Clostridium are very likely to be found. These bacterias can easily contaminate the product during the operational phase of food processing.

Methods Used

To prevent food contamination at The Very Good Butchers, a few methods of food preservation are being used.

Firstly, the main ingredients that are used to preserve the product are high grade industrial salt & cane sugar.

Secondly, in order to preserve the quality of the meat and ensure maximum storage life, it is very important to control the storage temperatures. The Food and Drug Regulations of Canada states that perishable foods that can support the growth of disease-causing microorganisms must be stored at temperatures of 4°C and below. Thereby, the plant based meat is being refrigerated in a Sub-Zero Freezer at temperatures above freezing. Such temperatures are commonly used in the food industry and help to prevent the plant meat from a freezer burn and ice crystal damage. Poor temperature control can lead to the rupture of cell walls during freezing and thawing. Thus, the process of freezing foods has a great influence on the ultimate quality of the food.

Thirdly, heat processing must be applied to vegetables before preservation. Most of the vegetables are being blanched in order to destroy some of the contaminating microorganisms. However, low acid foods are susceptible to Clostridium spores, thereby they must be sufficiently heated to stop the spores from germinating and multiplying (Newsome, 85).

Lastly, modified atmosphere packaging is being used to prevent food contamination and ensure much longer storage life. Sterilization of the packaging material, no back-flushing with a gas mixture prior to sealing the package and the removal of oxygen from these products through the vacuum process, suppresses the growth of the aerobic spoilage-causing bacteria.

Machines and technology

The Very Good Butchers use a variety of machines and technology to process and handle their products. The bowl chopper, oven, grills, and barley mixer are used to make the meats, while the polyclip, vacuum packaging machine, x-ray machine, and sub-zero freezer are used to package the products and ensure that they are kept safe for consumption.

Heat Treatment and Microorganisms

Heat treatments are used in both the oven and grills for a multitude of reasons. In addition to improving the flavour and texture of the meats, these treatments help to ensure microorganism growth is kept to a minimum. A very prevalent microorganism in meats is C. botulinum, which requires extensive heat treatment to kill the spores before they can grow and cause serious problems. Since meats are low acid foods, they require a margin of safety of 12D for their thermal processing. Another option frequently used in meats to control C. botulinum is the addition of nitrosamines, which are potentially carcinogenic, but their positive qualities of adding flavour and colour in addition to the control of microorganisms makes them a popular choice.

Packaging Technology

Packaging is done using the vacuum and polyclip machines. Vacuum packaging is important for meats because it limits the amount of oxygen available for any aerobic microorganisms that might be present in the meat. While this doesn’t affect the growth of anaerobic microorganisms such as C. botulinum, it does help to control the growth of yeasts and moulds. Acid producing bacteria, such as lactic-acid producing bacteria, can be added to meat to help prevent growth of some microorganisms. Even with the addition of these bacteria, meats that are vacuum packaged must still be refrigerated in order to prevent growth of psychrotrophic bacteria. This is what the sub-zero freezer is used for. While this machine has the capability to store products down to -19oC, most meats are stored between 0-5oC.

Bowl Chopper and Mixers

The bowl chopper and barley mixer are used to mix the ingredients. This mixes together the various vitamins, minerals, acids, pigments, and aromas of the ingredients in order to create a more homogenous, consistent product.

X-Rays

Finally, the x-ray machine is used to examine the foods for any inconsistencies and for quality assurance purposes. This process is not used for irradiation purposes, however. Instead, x-rays in low enough amounts are used to give an image of the product without treating it in any significant way. These electromagnetic rays are known for having a short wavelength and high penetrating power, allowing for passage through packages.

Canadian regulations

For a food company like The Very Good Butchers, it is obvious that its food making process follows the Canadian food regulations completely. The process can be divided to many different sections, and each of the sections has its regulations and rules to follow.

Entire Process

For the research and development section, while designing a new product, the company needs to consider the use of ingredients and additives to make sure it is approved by the Food and Drugs Act. All of the nutrients must strictly follow the intake amount recommended by Health Canada. For the quality analysis section, the raw materials suppliers are carefully evaluated to provide high quality food. The raw materials and other ingredients are also sampled and tested by The Very Good Butchers to classify the food grades. For the package and storage section, the company takes the information from all the previous sections to indicate the required labels according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Various tests are also made to figure out suitable storage conditions and packaging materials.

Allergens

One of the internal regulations being followed in The Very Good Butchers is about the allergens. There is a strict procedure about when to actually add the allergens like wheat. The order of scaling the ingredients doesn’t matter but when it is actually added to the bowl chopper, it is necessary to make sure that the vegetables and oil goes in first, and then spices, then beans, then barley (allergen). Similar to other ingredients and additives, the allergens also have a strict labeling regulation. Health Canada, CFIA, allergy associations, and the medical community have identified some key substances associated with food allergies, including egg, milk, peanut and soy. Most The Very Good Butchers pre-packaged meat need to carry a label indicating the allergens.

Organic Ingredients

The Very Good Butchers uses beans, grains, organic vegetables and spices to craft vegan meat, so the organic food regulations are also considered. Organic production is a holistic system designed to optimize the productivity and fitness of diverse communities within the agro-ecosystem, including soil organisms, plants, livestock and people. The principal goal of organic production is to develop operations that are sustainable and harmonious with the environment. (Government of Canada) All the products need to have an organic claim displaying the Canada Organic Logo on the label. Producers of these products must be prepared to demonstrate that organic claims are truthful and not misleading, and that all commodity-specific requirements have been met.

Question for Exam

Nutritional yeast, a type of inactivated yeast rich in B vitamins and protein, are added to plant-based meat for what reason?

1. To allow the barley in the meat to ferment into alcohols
2. To introduce gas into the burger, changing its texture into the final product
3. To add nutrients to make up for the amount normally found in real meat
4. To break down the beans in the food compound into vermicelli

(Answer 3 is the correct answer. Nutritional yeast is inactive and does not participate in any fermentation process, so it isn't answer 1 or 2. Answer 4 is incorrect because yeast and lactic acid bacteria are the ones responsible for breaking the beans down into vermicelli)

References

Newsome, R.L.. "Effects of Food Processing on Nutritive Values." Office of Scientific Public Affairs, 1986, pp. 83-90.

Bekatorou A. et al. “Food Grade Yeasts.” Food Technol. Biotechnol., 2006, pp. 407–415.

Government of Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada. “Organic Production Systems : General Principles and Management Standards.: P29-32-310-2020e-Pdf.” Government of Canada Publications - Canada.ca, 3 Apr. 2013, publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.894375/publication.html.

Hofman, D. L., van Buul, V. J., & Brouns, F. J. P. H. (2016, September 9). "Nutrition, health, and regulatory aspects of digestible maltodextrins." Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 56(12), 2091−2100. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4940893/

Riaz, M.N. "Texturized Soy Protein as an Ingredient." Woodhead Publishing Series in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition, 517-558. 2004. https://doi.org/10.1533/9781855738379.3.517