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PrimeCap for Meat Industry

Encapsulated Citric acid and Lactic acid have been used by the meat industry to directly acidify since the 1980’s. Encapsulated salt is also commonly used to minimize extraction of proteins as well as reduce the impact on free-moisture and freezing temperatures of meats.

Encapsulated acidulants are mixed directly into the meat dough (aggressive mixing should be minimized to reduce fracture of encapsulate coating) where the hot-melt coating prevents the interaction of the acid with meat proteins. The coating continues to prevent the acid interaction during holding times and through the stuffing process.

Stuffed sausages are then put into the smoke house for a shortened time period (typically 4 hours) sufficient to exceed 145°F for ~20 minutes. The softened vegetable oil coating will rapidly wick away into the fat system allowing the acid to consistently achieve your targeted pH and flavor.

 

Now sought after functionality that seemed unachievable using conventional ingredients are attainable using PrimeCAP® Ingredient and Encapsulation Solutions.

Not all Encapsulated Ingredients Are Equal

There are multiple forms of Encapsulation, each with their own physical attributes, performance and cost advantages and disadvantages. The most common forms of encapsulation in the food industry include spray-chill coating, and fluid-bed encapsulation:

Spray-chill Coating is a low-cost coating process used in the food industry. The coated particles have a non-uniform, single-shell coating, which can be subject to leaking and physical abrasion cracking. Pump variations can also create variations in coating thickness. This can expose the core active to react with other ingredients. This can be critical in higher moisture systems. Active payloads are typically under 50%, and most typically 33%.

Fluid-bed Encapsulation is a process that applies multiple-layers of coating onto an active ingredient. Such a barrier can provide a high and consistent level of protection through high physical stress handling conditions as well as higher moisture environments. IFP’s innovative and patented (Patent # 6,312,521) fluidbed encapsulation technology takes our ingredients to an elevated level of cost-effective performance where high levels of performance are required. Payloads are typically 50% to 90%.