Is the bone paste in starch sausage really terrible? Can we still eat starch sausage?

During the 315 period this year, starch sausages were in great demand and many netizens said they would never dare to eat them again.

This matter requires a calm and objective analysis. Before condemning starch sausage, there are a few points that must be clarified:

1 What kind of intestine is starchy intestine? Are there any relevant standards?

2 What are the ingredients of starch sausage? Besides starch, what else makes people feel delicious?

3 Why do many people particularly like to eat this kind of grilled starch sausage?

4 Is bone mud a harmful ingredient that humans cannot eat?

Let’s talk about them one by one slowly.

1 What type of intestine is starchy intestine?

After checking CNKI, I found that starch sausage is defined in the research literature of my country's food industry.

“Starch sausage refers to a smoked and boiled sausage meat product that is made from edible starch and livestock and poultry products as the main raw materials, with seasonings and food additives added as ingredients, and is processed through a process of mincing, mixing, filling, smoking, steaming, and cooling. It has a starch content greater than 10% and a protein content of not less than 5%.”[1]

In other words, starch sausage is a type of product that has existed for a long time. Its characteristics are high starch content and low protein content . In the past, people thought that the protein content of ham sausage was not high, but according to the national standard, it is required to reach 10% protein content, which is twice that of starch sausage.

Many people may not understand how high the protein content of 5% is. In fact, it is lower than that of steamed bread. The protein content of steamed bread is at least 6%.

The characteristic of starch sausage is that starch accounts for the majority, while meat accounts for the minority. For example, in a potato starch sausage, potato starch paste accounts for 80% of the weight, meat accounts for 15%, and seasonings and additives account for 5%[2].

They taste like meat, but because of their high starch content, their texture is softer than meat products, and their nutritional value is quite different from meat.

Therefore, these products dare not call themselves meat sausages, but are called "starch sausages" . Some products even set their own corporate standards for very low protein content, such as a protein content of only 3.5%, or even lower, as exposed at the 315 Gala.

Decades ago, starch sausages were very popular. They were made of a lot of starch and fat, with only a little bit of lean meat, which was just to give the poor people a taste of meat. Later, as people became more affluent, those starch sausages, which were mainly made of starch, had low nutritional value and tasted not good enough, gradually faded out of supermarkets.

However, in the past decade or so, various starch sausages with upgraded taste have quietly returned. They do not provide protein, but have become a popular meat-flavored snack and the main raw material for various roadside stalls.

2 What ingredients are used to make starch sausage?

Indeed, the roadside grilled sausages nowadays are no longer the same level as the rough starch sausages of the past. Starch sausages have evolved to have a delicate taste, delicious flavor, and charming aroma, and are loved by children and young people.

After reading several papers on how to make starch sausage, as well as scientific research results related to starch sausage, I found that the main raw materials of starch sausage are meat/fish + natural starch or modified starch + soy protein + animal skin (or emulsified skin) + seasonings + food additives + meat flavoring, etc.

Commonly used starch raw materials include potato starch, mung bean starch, modified (modified) corn starch, etc. Why add modified starch? Because they can improve the taste of the intestines, making them elastic and not loose, and soft and not hard.

In addition, natural gums such as carrageenan extracted from Staghorn algae, locust bean gum extracted from locust beans, and xanthan gum produced by microbial fermentation may be added as food additives to enhance the taste of the gel and prevent starch from aging and shrinking due to freezing.

Another type of additive that must be added to starch sausage is phosphate water retaining agent, because it can improve the taste of starch jelly and allow starch to firmly hold a large amount of water, and starch jelly is the matrix of starch sausage.

In addition, in order to simulate the red color of processed meat products, sodium nitrite and red pigments are often added, such as Monascus red, Allura red, cochineal red, etc.

3 Why do many people particularly like to eat this kind of grilled starch sausage?

There are indeed many people who love starchy sausages. Some people even say that they just love this kind of starchy sausage and don’t like sausages with high meat content.

First of all, starch sausage is mainly made of starch-gelatin gel, and does not contain much meat, so it is not so hard and easy to chew . Meat is made of muscle fibers and needs to be chewed carefully. Children with weak chewing power and weak masseter muscles like it, just like they like jelly and cake.

Secondly, because of the modified starch and vegetable gum, the starch sausage has a delicate texture, is elastic and has a charming taste. The pleasure of taste is the main reason why many people like certain snacks or snacks, such as vermicelli, glutinous rice cakes, jelly, spicy strips, fried dough sticks... all of which have conquered a large number of fans because of their specific taste.

Third, starch is particularly good at absorbing various flavor substances and is easier to absorb than pure meat. Sensory experiments were conducted during the development of starch sausage, and the seasoning is exquisite, with both salty and sweet flavors, spices, and various flavor enhancers, which are particularly tempting.

Fourth, starch sausage is rich in carbohydrates, moderate in fat and protein, and sugar is added, which is particularly conducive to the Maillard reaction. When it is baked to a brown color, it will emit an attractive aroma, and with the help of meat flavor, it is even more attractive to the nose.

However, the roasting process and the addition of meat flavors will cause the Maillard reaction to be too intense, and will also produce more AGEs (a class of pro-inflammatory and pro-aging substances that are easily produced when food has a burnt aroma).

4 Is bone mud a harmful ingredient that humans cannot eat?

I thought that bone mud has been around for many years and is often used in food, so it shouldn't be surprising. But it turns out that some netizens think it is made by mixing bones with water after burning them into ashes, so they are very scared. Here's some basic information about bone mud.

Animal bones are an inevitable by-product of meat processing, but this does not mean that they do not contain nutrients.

Bones are rich in calcium and iron, as well as fat and collagen. When I eat roasted chicken or chicken wings cooked in a pressure cooker, I also chew the softer bones to get the red marrow and calcium. Some commercially available bone soup noodles also use bone paste as an ingredient.

A scientific and technological achievement appraised in 2017 stated [3] that through process improvement, "a fermented bone paste product was obtained that is rich in hydroxyproline (>12mg/kg), highly active calcium (>435mg/100g), collagen (>30g/kg), has a moderate calcium-phosphorus ratio (1:1-1.5), and is rich in chromium (>0.02mg/Kg)." It was then developed into nutritional biscuits and nutritional lozenges.

In addition, I also saw many research reports on the development and utilization of fish bone mud, sheep bone mud , etc.

So, can bone paste be used as an ingredient for sausages?

A 2018 bone mud-related results appraisal had the following introduction:

“Using this production technology, the collagen in the residual muscle and bone and the lipids, iron, calcium and other components in the bones can be fully utilized to produce a comprehensive utilization product with high nutritional value. … In this technology, the texture of the product is modified by enzyme method. The bone paste treated by enzyme method has excellent agglomeration properties and can be directly used as a raw material for minced meat products, such as dumpling fillings and meatballs. It can also replace part of the raw meat in the production of sausage products.” [4]

A fish bone paste sausage development technology claims that “the amount of bone paste added to this product can reach 80%, fully increasing the calcium content while ensuring a good taste.”[5]

There are also studies that use animal bones to make seasoning powder or seasoning paste products for human consumption[6-7].

In this case, it is not surprising to add bone paste ingredients to sausage products. As long as the hygiene indicators are qualified and the production process is standardized, the bones from the chicken skeleton can be used as a source of nutrition for animals and humans.

If bone paste of good quality and with qualified hygiene indicators is added to starch sausage, its nutritional value will be improved.

The key points are three:

1. Are the bones fresh and from healthy chickens? Bones from dead chickens, rotten bones, and bones from swill buckets cannot be used as raw materials. But then again, meat processing plants produce a large amount of fresh animal bones every day, so why bother to fish bones from swill buckets?

2. Whether the processing technology is standardized and whether the hygiene indicators are qualified. Bone meal and bone mud are indeed used as raw materials for animal feed, but there are hygiene indicators for feed production and food safety standards for human food production. Products for animals cannot be used in human food.

3. Did the manufacturer truthfully label the ingredient bone paste? It is not illegal to add bone paste as an ingredient, but it is illegal to add it without informing consumers, or to use it to impersonate other ingredients.

In short, from the perspective of nutritional value and food industry classification standards, starch sausage cannot be called meat sausage, and should not even be classified as a meat product, but more like a "flavored starch snack" . Therefore, it cannot be required by the standards of various meat sausages.

Of course, as long as they meet food hygiene standards, meet the company's standards, and truthfully label the ingredients and nutritional information, starch sausages can be sold normally. There is nothing wrong with liking this kind of food, just like there is nothing wrong with liking spicy strips and fried dough sticks.

However, people who love to eat it must also be aware that this kind of food cannot provide the nutritional value of meat. It has less protein than meat, more fat than staple food, and a high sodium content. The strong aroma of roasting may bring pro-inflammatory ingredients.

It's okay to eat a delicious roasted sausage occasionally when traveling, but it's not wise to let your children eat these sausages regularly just because they are cheap. It's better for children to eat dishes cooked with fresh meat, plenty of fresh vegetables, and low-fat original staple foods.

References:

1 Chen Yanbing, Hu Hongmei, Sun Dadi, et al. Research on the preparation and optimization of fish flavor starch sausage, Meat Industry, 2012(06): 5-7.

2 Xu Li, Yang Feier, Zhao He, et al. Optimization of potato starch sausage processing technology. Grain and Oils. 2018, 31(08): 42-45

3 Research and demonstration of key technologies for efficient utilization of poultry bones. First completion unit: Lichuan Duorenduo Industrial Co., Ltd.; Appraisal time: 2017

4. Production and texture adjustment technology of livestock and poultry bone paste. First completion unit: School of Food Science and Engineering, Jiangnan University; Appraisal time: 2018

5 Fishbone paste sausage processing technology. First completion unit: School of Food Science and Engineering, Jiangnan University; Appraisal time: 2018