Shelf Life Enhancer
The function of shelf life enhancer is to maintain the quality of meat products and semi-finished products until the end of the best-before date. This involves on the one hand sensory freshness but also spoilage.
Both sensory spoilage and the harmlessness of a product are significantly influenced by bacterial growth. As a rule, the growth of lactic acid producers and proteolytic or lipolytic bacteria is harmless to health. However, the degradation products of bacterial metabolism lead to sensory defects.
Spoilage by pathogenic spoilage organisms is much worse. The consumer is often not "warned" by sensory defects and consumes a product that is contaminated with microorganisms of concern. Cases of illness occur, which in the worst case (listeriosis, salmonellosis, EHEC) can lead to death.
Therefore, it is of great interest to produce food as safely as possible. This can be done effectively using organic acids and their salts. Primarily, acetic acid and lactic acid are used, but also tartaric acid and the corresponding salts. The use of acetates and lactates (salts of acetic acid and lactic acid) is particularly suitable, as these have only a slight influence on the pH value and thus the sensory characteristics of a product.