Cooked Ham With A 39 Day Shelf Life, UK

Cooked ham could soon be given a 39 day shelf life, according to scientists
speaking today Tuesday 4 September 2007 at the Society for General
Microbiology's 161st Meeting at the University of Edinburgh, UK, which runs from 3-6
September 2007.



Traditional cooked ham has a maximum shelf life of three to four weeks (21-28
days), including the time from processing to shoppers buying the sliced meat in a
supermarket. Currently cooked ham has 55% of the UK cooked meat market, and to
maintain and expand this market processors are looking at new technologies to
extend shelf life and open up new European markets for pork products.



"Many dairy products such as cheeses and yoghurts and some fermented meat
products already use lactic acid producing bacteria to protect and preserve their
products, and we know these are acceptable to consumers in terms of taste", says
Roisin Lagan from the College of Agriculture, Food & Rural Enterprise in
Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. "We investigated the possibility of
extending the shelf life of cooked and sliced ham by treating it with a protective
culture of Lactobacillus sakei, a common lactic acid producing bacterium".



When the commercially cured and then Lactobacillus treated meat was tasted by an
untrained panel of consumers it was rated as tastier, with a better texture and
overall more acceptability than the same conventionally treated ham. Chemical
studies showed that the bacteria treated ham was drier and slightly more acidic than
the conventionally preserved version of the meat.



The food scientists then looked at the shelf life of the new product and found that
the lactic acid bacteria culture helped to prevent other types of bacteria from
growing on the treated ham, protecting it from possible contamination by food
poisoning bacteria or ones which would taint it by destroying its flavour and texture.



"This means that we have found a reliable and cost effective way of developing a
tasty ham product with a maximum shelf life of 39 days when stored at 4°C" says
Roisin Lagan. "This in turn will allow processors to have longer production runs
leading to less wastage, thus reducing the environmental impact of storing and
processing food waste. The increased shelf life will allow UK companies to compete
more effectively on a global scale. Consumers will be assured a reliable, safe
cooked ham product".



Dr Lagan is presenting the poster 'Shelf life extension of cooked ham using a bioprotective
culture' at 1030 on Tuesday 04 September 2007 in the Plenary session of the 161st
Meeting of the Society for General Microbiology at the University of Edinburgh, 03 - 06
September 2007.




Full programme details of this meeting can be found on the Society's website here. Hard copies are available
on request from the SGM.



The Society for General Microbiology is the largest microbiology society in Europe, and
has over 5,500 members worldwide. The Society provides a common meeting ground for
scientists working in research and in fields with applications in microbiology including
medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmaceuticals, industry, agriculture, food, the
environment and education.



The SGM represents the science and profession of microbiology to government, the media
and the general public; supporting microbiology education at all levels; and encouraging
careers in microbiology.


sgm.ac.uk