Natural Compounds to Reduce Nitrite in Meat Products

The PHYTOME project (Phytochemicals to reduce nitrite in meat products) is a major European Union (EU) co-funded research project that aims to develop innovative meat products in which the food additive nitrite has been replaced by natural compounds originating from fruits and vegetables. These biologically active compounds, also referred to as phytochemicals, are known to contribute to improved gut health and are added to the meat as natural extracts. In a number of meat products, carefully selected combinations of natural antioxidants and other biologically active compounds occurring in vegetables, fruits and natural extracts such as coffee and tea, will be added during meat processing. Some of these compounds possess an antimicrobial activity allowing them to replace nitrite, whereas others possess a natural red colour that may contribute to the desired appearance of the products. Also, some of these compounds are known to protect colonic cells against damaging effects of cancer causing agents that may be formed in the large intestine after meat consumption. The PHYTOME project will develop new technologies to introduce the natural extracts during processing to different types of meat products. These techniques will guarantee good sensory quality of the product as well as microbiological safety. Once these techniques have been developed and optimized at laboratory scale, the new type of products will be produced on an industrial scale. The health promoting effects of these products will be evaluated in a human dietary intervention study with healthy volunteers. After consumption of a fully controlled diet with either relatively high amounts of the traditional meat products or products produced following the new concept, faeces and colonic material will be collected and investigated for markers of colorectal cancer risk. These investigations will be performed in close collaboration with Research Institutes in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy and Greece, and will make use of the newest genomics techniques that are available.