CA1103981A - Meat snack analog - Google Patents

Abstract

MEAT SNACK ANALOG
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A nutritious tasty meat snack analog having characteristics simulating the meat-based product is made from non-meat protein material, fat, water, antioxidant, spices, colourings and flavourings. The fat, preferably non-meat fat, is emulsified in water with a proteinaceous emulsifier, preferably a protein micellar mass, and blended with an aqueous dispersion of a protein binder, which preferably is sodium caseinate or a protein micellar mass, and fibrous protein, preferably protein fibres formed from a protein micellar mass. The blend, which also includes the antioxidant, spices, colourings and flavourings, added at various stages of processing, and in the form of a stiff paste with fibrous particles distributed therethrough is then stuffed into appropriate casings and dried under con-trolled temperatures and humidity conditions to the desired moisture content, preferably about 15 to about 25% by weight, tempered and cut and packaged in a moisture-proof package.

Description

The present invention is directed to a meat-less food sna~k which simul.~tes the taste, texture and other characteristics of dried meat snacks.
In prior art meat snacks, ground-up left-over meat from slaughterhouse operations, sùch as, beef or por];, is mixed, in desired proportions of lean and fat, with spices,preservatives and water binders, and continuously stuffed into suitable casings. The resulting material then is subjected to a smokehouse cycle to impart smokiness to the produc~ and dry the same to the desired moisture level of about 12 to 20%. The product is then cut into the desired lengths for packaging,~ usually in an air tight foil package. These products are qulte popular, have con-siderable nutritional value of about 25~ by weight of meat protein, and have a long room temperature shelf-life.
~he substitution of vegetable and other non-meat proteins for meat proteins in a number of meat products has been attempted, in view of the somewhat uneconomic and inefficient process whereby animals convert protein-aceous vegetable materials into meat, and other economic pressures, such as, limited grazing land for animals.
Consumer acceptance of meat-like products formulated from non-meat proteins is in large measure predicated on the extent of duplication of the apperance, texture and taste of natural meat products and considerable difficulty often is experienced in meeting these requirements.
As far as the applicants are aware, any prior at-tempts which may have been made to provide a consumer acceptable meat-less snack food having the taste, texture and other characteristics of the prior art meat-based products mentioned above h~ve not been successful~
The presen~ invention is directed to the pro vision of such meat snack analog hased on non-meat proteins and which is room-temperature stable and has similar protein~ moisture and fat contents to commercial meat snacks. In addition, the invention includes within its scope a product which simulates the polish sausage, produced by decreasing the preferred moisture content of the meat snack analog, and a sliced pepperoni analog, which is produced by slicing the meat snack analog.
The product of the present invention is prefer-ably made from non-meat protein material, including texturing proteins, lipid materials, food grade anti-oxidantt water, and suitable spices, colourings and flavourings to simulate the taste and appearance of the meat-based products. The term "texturing proteins" as used herein refers to proteins which impart texture to the pro-duct, thereby providing a chewiness to the product which simulates meat-like characteristics. The texturing protein may be in the form of protein fibres and/or granules.
The meat snack analog product of this invention is quite different from prior art sausage analog products which are intended to simulate hot dogs and the like. These prior art sausage analog products, such as are described in U.S. Patents Nos. 3,711,291, 3,713,837, 3,719,498, 3,719,499 and 3,836,678 assigned to General Foods Corporation, consist of gelled emulsions of protein in water from which fibrous material is substantially absent and have high moisture contents which necessitates re~rigeration to prevent microbial spoilage. In contrast, the products o~
this invention have water activities tAw) less than about 9~31 0.95, preferably about 0.7 to about 0.75, so as to permit room temperature storage without spoilage for long periods.
In the present inventio.l, the component materials are brought together by a procedure which results in a thick paste-like material having texturing proteins distributed therethrough, which is stuffed into suitable casings and then subjected to the prior art drying, tempering, cutting and packaging operations. These opera~ions also may include a natural smoking cycle or smoke flavourings may be included in the paste-like material.
The lipid material, such as a fat or oil~ is at least partially emulsified in water with a proteinaceous emulsifier, the emulsion, along with any non-emulsified lipid material, are blended with an aqueous dispersion of a protein binder and a fibrous protein, and the spices, colour-ings and flavourings are introduced at various stages, to result in the thick paste having the fibres substantially uniformly distributed therethrough.
In the product of the invention, protein is present from three non-meat protein sources, namely, the protein-aceous emulsifier, the proteinaceous binder and the fibrous protein, and has a considerable lipid content. The functionality of the protein material chosen may be sufficient to provide two or more of the non-meat protain sources, as outlined in more detail below. The protein and lipid contents of the products may be varied widely and - generally it is preferred to provide values which are similar to those of commercial meat snacks.
The following Table I sets forth the various essential and optional components which may be present in the final product and their relative proportions:

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TABLE I
Component General Range El-eferred Range (% by wt.) (% by wt.) Non-meat proteins :
-texturing protein about 10 to about 70 about 30 to about 50 -binding and about 5 to about 65 about 10 to about 30 ~sifying pro-teins Waber about 5 to about 35 about 15 to about 25 Lipid material about 10 to about 60 about 25 to about 35 Suitable spices, up to about 15 about 5 to akout 10 oolouring ag~nts and flavDurings Antioxidant up to about 1 aboutO.05 to about 0.1 Salt 0 to about 10 akout 5 to about 6 Sugars 0 to about 35 about 2 to about 4 Preservatives--potassium sorbate 0 to about 0.2 about 0.1 -sodium nitrite 0 to about 0.02 about 0.02 Antifoam agent 0 t~ about 0.5% about 0.01 Acidifying agent and/ 0 to about 5 0 bv about 0.1 or Bacterial culture The formation of the emulsified lipid material may be effected by mixing, usually under high shear, the lipid material which is preferably a liquid food grade vegetable oil or similar plant source material, although an animal fat may be used, if desired, and in which paste and liquid flavourings first may be dissolved and/or dispersed, with a dispersion or solution of a proteinaceous food emulsifier in water, which may have colouring agents and/or flavourings dissolved and/or dispersed therein. Salt may be dry mixed with dry protein emulsifier prior to dispersion of the latter in water. An emulsion stabilizing agent also may be included in the dry mix, if desired.

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The dispersed mixture of fibrous protein in aqueous protein binder phase may be formed by mixing a dry protein binder with water to rehydrate and disperse and/or dissolve the same and then dispersing the fibrous protein in the a~ueous medium under low shear conditions to minimize breakage of the fibrous protein. Fibrous proteins of varioùs dimensions may be employed, generally of length of aboùt 1 to about 15 cm, preferably about 1 to about 4 cm, and of diameter of about 0.1 to about 1 mm.
Powdered meat flavourings preferably are dry mixed with the dry protein binder prior to dispersing the latter in water. ~ food grade antifoam agent also may be added to the dry mixture, if desired. Colouring agents and/
or flavourings may be added to the water prior to mixing with the dry protein.
The dispersed mixture of fibrous protein then is blended into the emùlsion under low shear conditions and supplemental lipid material may be added to the blend, if desired. TXe emulsion may be blended directly with the dispersed mixture, or at least part of the emulsion first may be heat set to a gelatinous form to prodùce a simulated animal fat product, which then may be ground to particulate form, generally of an average size from about 0.1 to about 5 mm, prior to mixing of the ground material with the dispersed mixture of fibrous protein. Any portion of the emulsion not ro heat set is used directly in the blending step.
It has been found that the oil-release char-acteristics of the final product may be varied depending on the relative proportions of the emulsion used directly and the heat set emulsion used, varying from a maximum oil release value when all the emulsion is used directly to a mi~imu~ oil release value when all the emulsion is first heat set. The oil release and mDuth feel character-istics of the product may also be modified ~y variations in additional quantities of supplemental lipid material added to the blend.
Once the blend has been formed, food grade anti-oxidants, any additional preservatives, sugars, such as dextrose or sucrose, acidifying agent and/or bacterial culture, any remaining salt, flavours and spices may be added. The resulting ~hick paste-like mix of fibrous particles generally has a moisture content of about 30 to about 70% by weight, preferably about 40 to about 60% by weight, these moisture-content values being typical of the commercial meat-based mixes used to form commercial meat snack products. This being the case, the prior art opera-tions may be used thereon. The thick paste-like mix is fed to a sausage skin stuffer and the additional processing steps are effected to form a packaged product.
The preservatives which are used include anti-oxidants and bactexiostats and may be conventional preserva-tives, such as, potassium sorbate, sodium erythorbate and sodium nitrite. It is one feature of this invention that, - surprisingly, sodium nitrite may be omitted from the added preservatives, so long as another antioxidant system is used.
The texturing protein preferably is a fibrous protein, as i5 outlined in the above procedure. However, other texturing proteins may be used, alone or in admixture with the fibrous protein, such as, a granular textured vegetable protein.
When a granular textured vegetable protein is used to replace all or apart of the fibrous protein, the granular protein may be added to the emulsion so that the 38~

aqueous phase of the emulsion serves to r~hydrate the granular protein. When this procedure is adopted, sufficient textured vegetable protein is added to form a fat-like semi-solid mass from the emulsion. The latter may be ground to particulate form, generally of an average size from about 0.1 to about 5 mm, prior to mixing of the ground material with the binder phase.
The fibrous protein used in this invention is preferably that described in our copending Canadian appli-cation Serial No. 296,430 filed February 3, 1978. Such fibrous protein is formed by heat coagulation of a protein micellar mass, preferably by injection into hot water.
Protein micellar mass is a unique protein isolate, the formation of which is described in our Canadian Patent No. 1,028,552 and involves a controlled two-step operation, in which, in the first step, the protein source material is treated with an aqueous food grade salt solution at a temperature of about 15 to about 35C, a salt concentration of at least 0.2 ionic strength, generally about 0.2 to about 0.8, and a pH of about 5.5 to about 6.5 to cause solubilization (or salting-in) of the protein, usually in about 10 to about 60 minutes, and, in the second step, the aqueous protein solution is diluted to decrease its ionic strength to a value less than about 0.1.
The dilution of the aqueous protein solution, which may have a protein concentration, for example, up to about 10% w/v, causes association of the protein molecules to form highly proteinaceous micelles which settle in the form of an amorphous highly viscous, sticky, gluten-like micellar mass of protein. The protein micellar ~1~3~

mass so produced is re~erred to herein as PMM and is used to form the protein fibres. The wet PMM may be dried to a powder and the drying may ke effected in any convenient manner, such as, spray drying, freeze drying or vacuum drum drying.
Improvements in the procedure described in Canadian Patent No. 1,028,552 may be made to increase the yield of the unique protein isolate from the aqueous protein solution, as fully described in our copending Canadian application Serial No. 299,713 filed March 23, 1978.
The protein materials from which the wet PMM is formed may vary widely and include plant proteins, for example, starchy materials, such as, wheat, corn, oats, rye, barley and triticale; starchy legumes, such as, field peas, chickpeas, fababeans, navy beans and pinto beans; and oil seeds, such as, sunflower seeds, peanuts, rapeseed and soy beans; animal proteins, such as, serum proteins; and microbial protein, i.e., single cell proteins. Preferably, the protein source is a plant material owing to the readily-available nature of these material~s.
The mild processing oper~tions effected on the source protein to form the PMM ensure that the protein isolate is in a substantially undenatured form, as determined by differential scannin~ calorimetry.
PMM, in powder form, may also be used as the binder protein in the products of this invention, although other protein binders, such as, sodium caseinate, may be used in place of all or part thereof. Further, PMM in powder form may be used as the proteinaceous food emulsifier, although powdered egg white also may be used, as a substitute for all or part thereof.
The invention is illustrated ~y the following Examples:
Example 1 This Example sets forth a procedure for the formation of a snack food product according to the present invention.
A portion of the total quantity of salt to be used was dry mixed in a "Hobart Kitchen-Aid" (Trademarks) mixer with dry PMM ~rom a plant protein ~or 5 minutes at speed 1. Distilled water was warmed to 50C, colour and maple essence were dissolved therein and one-third of this coloured water was rapidly mixed with the dry mix after setting the blender to speed 2. Mixing was continued for 30 minutes to ensure complete dispersion of the PMM.
High stability vegetable oil was warmed to 60C -and bacon and beef flavouring pastes were melted in the heated oil, the oil was cooled to room temperature and liquid pepperoni flavouring was added. The blender was set to speed 4, the oil was very slowly added to the PMM
slurry and mixing was continued fox 10 minutes to ensure complete emulsification of the oil in the aquPous phase.
Dry protein binder, either dry PMM from a plant protein or dry sodium caseinate, was dry mixed with two powdered beef flavourings for 5 minutes at speed 1. The blender was then set at speed 2 and the remainder of the coloured water was rapidly added with mixing being continued 3Q for 30 minutes to ensure complete dispersion of the protein binder.

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P~M fibres of varying diameters were hand mixed into the binder protein mass using the mixer paddle with care being taken to avoid air entrapment. The PMM emulsion formed as described above then was blended with the PMM fibre and binder with the mixer set at speed 1.
In 10 ml of water there were sequentially dissolved potassium sorbate, monosodium glutamate and sodium nitrite and the solution was blended into the mix at blender speed 1. After mixing for 2 minutes, the remainder of the salt, sugar and the rest of the flavours and spices as a premix were blended into the mix and the blending continued for 5 minutes at speed 2.
The resulting stiff paste having PMM fibres distributed therethrough was transferred to a sausage .
stuffer, wherein the mix was stuffed into a suitable casing. The stuffed sausage analog was reeled onto a frame, smoked and dried under controlled temperature and relative humidity conditions and cooled slowly to room temperature.
After tempering the sausage analog for 24 hours at room temperature and relatlve humidity, the sausage analog was cut into desired meat snack lengths and placed in a moisture proof package.
In the following Examples, the PMM used was formed from field peas. Equivalent results were obtained using PMM's formed from fababeans and soybeans.

Example II
This Example sets forth in Table II below the components of a formulation used to form the paste from which a meat snack analog was formed following the procedure of Example I.

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9~i3l TABLE II
Component % by Wt.
A. Coloured Water:
Water 33.52 Colours - Amaranth 0.0046 - Sunset Yellow 0.0061 - Caramel Colouring 0.076 Maple Essence ~ 0-033 B. Protein Binder/Emulsifier Mix:
Pea PMM 4.58 Sodium Caseinate 4.58 Powdered lleated Beef Flavour 0.218 Powdered Beef Flavour 0.109 C. Protein Fibers:
Fine PMM (O.1 mm) 9.80 Medium PMM S0.5 mm) 19.61 Coarse PMM (1.0 mm) 3.27 D. Oil Mixture:
High Stability Vegetable Oil 16.41 Bacon Flavour Paste 0O218 Beef Flavour Paste 0.218 Liquid Pepperoni Flavour 0.109 E. Preservative Solution:
Water 1.0 Potassium Sorbate 0.109 Sodium Nitrite 0.0087 F. Other In~redients:
Salt 3.27 Sugar 1.63 Flavour Premix - Powdered Pepperoni Flav. 0.109 - Salami Flavour 0.381 - Ground Coriander 0.109 - Onion Powder 0.131 - Granular Garlic 0.065 - Paprika 0-054 - Smoke Flavour 0.3~1 The moisture, fat and protein contents of the paste and the dried meat snack analog were determined.
The results obtained were as follow~:

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Initial Paste Final Product (% by wt.) (% by wt.) Moisture 55.8 23.3 Fat 17.0 29.5 Total Protein20.6 35.8 - Protein binder 9.2 16.0 and emulsifier - Protein fibres 11.4 19.8 Water Activity (Aw) - 0-70 Example III
This Example sets forth in Table III below the com-ponents of a formulation used to form the paste from which the meat snack analog was formedj following the procedure of Example I, except that sodium nitrite was omitted from the preservatives and replaced by sodium erythorbate. The product in this Example utilizes only PMM to provide the protein content-thereof.

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' ' , 1~3~3131 TABLE I T I
Component % by Wt.
A. Coloured Water: .
Water 32.39 Colours - Amaranth 0.0046 - Sunset Yellow 0.0061 - Caramel Colouring 0.076 Maple Essence 0.08 Potassium Sorbate 0.10 . . Sodium Erythorbate 0.03 B. Protein Binder/Emulsifier Mix:
Pea PMM 17.65 Sugar 1.50 Salt 1.00 High Stability Vegetable Oil1.00 (Anti-foaming Agent) C. Protein Fibers:
Fine PMM (0.1:mm) 3.0 Medium PMM (0.5 mm) 14.06 Coarse PMM (1.0 mm) 8.0 D. Spices and Flavours:
Powdered Pepperoni Flavour 0.20 Salami Flavour 0.30 Ground Coriander 0.15 Onion Powder 0.10 Granular Garlic 0.60 E. Oil Mixture:
High Stability Vegetable Oil17.92 Liquid Pepperoni Flavour 0.25 Bacon Flavour Paste 0.16 F. Other In~redients:
Powdered Smoke Flavour 0~16 Salt 2.0 Monosodium Glutamate 0.10 The moisture, fat and protein contents of the .; paste and dried meat snack analog were determined and the results obtained were as follows:

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Initial Paste Final Product (% by wt.) (% by wt.) Moisture 48.7 21.1 Fat 19.3 29.8 Total Protein 26.4 40.7 - Protein binder + 17.7 26.6 emulsifier - Protein fibres 8.7 14.1 Example IV
This Example sets forth in Table IV below the components of a formulation used to form the paste from which the meat snack analogwas formed, following the procedure of Example I:

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. - 15 -~1~ 3~1 TABLE IV
Component ~ by Wt.
.
A. Coloured Water:
Water 25.9 Colours - Amaranth 0~0053 - Sunset Yellow 0.0070 - Carmel Colouring 0.088 Maple Essence 0.10 B. Protein_B nder Mix:
Sodium Caseinate 5.33 Powdered Heated Beef Flavour 0.254 Powdered Beef Flavour 0.127 Coloured Water (See A above) 17.61 C. Protein Fibres-.
Fine PMM (0.1 mm) 7.61 Coarse PMM ~1.0 mm) 22.84 Commercial Spun Protein Fibers 3.81 D. Emulsifier Mix:
Pea PMM
Salt 0.507 Coloured Water (see A above) 8.49 E. Oil Mixture:
High Stability Vegetable Oil 19.1 Bacon Flavour Pas~e 0.254 Beef Flavour Paste 0.254 Liquid Pepperoni Flavour 0.317 F. Preservative (etc.) Solution:
Water 1.27 Potassium Sorbate 0~127 Monosodium Glutamate 0.127 Sodium Nitrite 0.01 G. Other Ingredients:
Salt 3.30 Sugar 1.90 Flavour Premix - Powd. Pepperoni Flavour 0.109 Salami Flavour 0.381 Ground Coriander 0.109 Onion Powder 0.131 Granular Garlic 0.065 4a Paprika 0.054 Smoke Flavour 0.3~1 Determination of the moisture, fat and protein contents of the paste and dried meat snack analog were made and the results were as follows:

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Initial Paste Final Product (% by wt.) _ (% by wt.) Moisture 49.7 21.2 Fat 19.9 31.~
Total Protein22.6 35.4 - Protein binder and 10.6 16.6 emulsifier - Protein fibers 12.0 18.8 Example V
This Example sets forth in Table V below the components of a formulation used to form the paste from which the meat snack analog was formed, following the procedure of Example I with the modifications that, follow-ing the formation of the emulsion, the protein was heat set and the heat set mass was ground prior to blending with the fibrous mass, smoke flavouring was added to the emulsion prior to heat setting to impart a smoky taste to the product, and additional oil was added to produce the desired oil release and mouth feel after blending of the ground mass and fibrous mass.
A mixture of PMM and sodium caseinate was used as the protein binder and a mixture of PMM, egg albumen and gelatin was used as the protein emulsifier.

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TABLE V
Component % ~y Wt.
A. Coloured Water:
Water 21.91 Colours - Amaranth 0.0053 - Sunset Yellow 0.0070 - Carame~ Colouring 0.027 Maple Essence 0.154 B. Protein Binder Mix:
Sodium Caseinate 6.92 Pea PMM 0.768 Food Grade Antifoam Agent 0.005 C. Protein Fibers:
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Medium PMM (0.25 mm) 30.72 D. Heat-Set Emulsion (Smoke Flavoured)( ) 20.48 E. Oil Mixture:
High Stability Vegetable Oil 5.12 Liquid Smoke Flavour I 0.384 F. Preservative (etc.~ Solution:
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Water . 6.14 Potassium Sorbate 0.102 Monosodium Glutamate 0.102 Sodium Nitrite 0.008 Sodium ~rythorbate 0.033 G. Other Ingredients:
Liquid Smoke Flavour II 1.54 Salt 2.76 Dextrose 1.23 Spice Premix - White Pepper 0.102 - Mace 0.051 - Coriander 0.092 : - Mustard 0.092 - Paprika 0.061 - Onion Powder 0.102 : . - Garlic Powder 0.061 Glucono Delta Lactone 1.02 Note: (1) The constitution of the heai-set emulsion is ~:: set forth in the following Table VI
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TABLE VI- Heat-Set Emulsion (Smoke Flavour) Component % by Wt.
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A. Dry Protein (etc ) Mix:
Pea PMM 2.66 Egg Albumen (Powder) 10.63 Powdered Smoke Flavour 0.089 Sucrose 3-545 White Pepper o 099 Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protei.n 0.532 Salt 1.595 Gelatin 2.127 Whèy Protein Concentrate 1.140 B. Aqueous Phase:
Water 24.81 Sodium Erythorbate 0.043 Liquid Smoke Flavour II 1.33 C. Oil Mixture:
High Stability Vegeta~le Oil 49.63 Liquid Smoke Flavour I 1.77 Results of the moisture, fat and protein contents of the paste and dried meat snack analog were as follows:
Initial PasteFinal Product (% by wt.)(~O by wt.) Moisture 54.9 26.4 Fat 16.0 26.1 Total Protein 21.8 35.5 - Protein Binder and 11.0 18.0 emulsifier - Protein fibers 10.8 17.5 Example VI
This Example, in Table VII below, sets forth the constituents of a formulation used to form the paste from which the meat snack analog was formed following a modified procedure to that described in Example I.
The binder protein used was sodium caseinate while the emulsifier protein was egg albumen and gelatin.

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, ~1~;3S~81 In this Example, the protein in the emulsion was heat set after the formation thereof and the heat set mass was ground prior to blending with the fibrous mass as in the case of Example V. In this Example,cheese flavouring was used to provide a cheese-flavoured product, and additional oil was added after blending of the ground mass and fibrous mass to produce the desired oil release and mouth feel.

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TABI~ VII
Component % by Wt.
A. Coloured Water:
_ ___ Water 22.5 Colours - Amaranth 0.0033 - Sunset Yellow 0.0044 - Carmel Colouring 0.017 Maple Essence 0.15 B. Protein Binder Mix:
Sodium Caseinate 7.51 Food Grade Antifoam Agent 0.005 C. Protein Fibers:
Medium PMM (0.25 mm) 30.0 D. Heat-Set Cheese-Flavoured Emulsion(l) 20.0 .
E. Oil Mixture:
-High Stability Vegetable Oil 5.0 Liquid Smoke Flavour I 0.375 F. Preservative (etc.j Solution:
Water 7.5 ~0 Potassium Sorbate 0.10 Monosodium Glutamate - 0.10 Sodium Nitrite 0.008 Sodium Erythorbate 0.032 G. Other Ingredients-Liquid Smoke Flavour II 1.50 Salt 2.70 Dextrose 1.20 Spice Premix - White Pepper 0.10 - Mace 0-05 - Coriander 0.09 - Mustard 0-09 - Paprika 0.06 - Onion Powder 0.10 - Garlic Powder 0.06 Glucono Delta Lactone 1.00 Note: (13 The constitution of the heat-set emulsion is as set forth in the following Table VIII.

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~1~39131 TABLE VIII - Heat-Set Emulsion (Cheese Flavour) Component % by Wt.
A. Dry Protein (etc. ) Mix:
Egg Albumen Powder 11.29 Sucrose 3.01 Salt 1.35 Gelatin 1.81 Whey Protein Concentrate 0.753 Natural Cheddar Cheese Flavour 4.06 Whey Powder 3.39 Natural Blue Cheese Flavour 2.03 B. ~s_eous Phase:
.
Water 22.58 Sunset Yellow 0.009 Sodium Erythorbate 0.050 Sodium Nitrite 0.009 C. Oil Mixture:
-High Stability Vegetable Oil 48.91 Liquid Smoke Flavour I 0.753 The moisture, fat and protein contents of the paste and meat snack analog product were determined, the results being as follows:

Initial Paste Final Product (% by wt.) (% by wt.) ~loisture 55.5 24.8 Fat 15.3 25.9 Total Protein21.4 36.2 - Protein binder and 10.9 18.5 emulsifier - Protein fibres 10.5 17.7 : Example VII
In this Example, the procedure of Example I
was again repeated except that in this case textured vegetable protein (TVP ) granules were added to the emulsion~ Sodium caseinate was used as the binder protein and PMM was used as the emulsifier protein. The con stituents used are set forth in the following Table IX:

3S~1 TABLE IX
Component ~ by Wt.
_ _ A. Coloured Water for Binder:
Water 18.60 Colours - Amaranth 0.0053 - Sunset Yellow 0.0070 - Caramel Colouring 0.088 Maple Essence 0.081 Liquid Smoke Flavour II 0.404 B. Protein Dry Mix for Binder:
Sodium Caseinate 6.072 Antifoam ~gent 0.016 C. Protein Fibers:
- Fine PMM (0.1 mm) 16.17 Coarse PMM (1.0 mm) 16.17 D. Protein Dry Mix for Emulsion:
Pea PMM 0.251 Salt 0 509 Emulsion Stabilizer 0.251 E. Aqueous Phase for Emulsion:
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Water 12.13 F. Oil Mixture for Emulsion:
Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil 5.053 High Stability Vegetable Oil 7.074 Liquid Smoke Flavour I 0.404 G. Textured Vegetable Protein (Granules) 6.468 (2.0 mm diameter) H. Preservative (etc.) Solution:
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: Water 6.468 Potassium Sorbate 0.081 Monosodium Glutamate 0.081 Sodium Nitrite 0.006 :
: I. Other Ingredients:
; Salt 1.940 Sugar ~ 1.213 Spices - White Pepper 0.10 ~ Mace 0-05 '. - Coriander 0.09 - Mustard 0.09 - Paprika 0.06 ~ ~ - - Onion Powder - 0.10 : - Garlic Powder 0.06 .
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The moisture, fat and protein contents of the paste and meat snack analog product were determined, the results being as follows:

Initial Paste Final Product (~ by wt.) (% by wt.) Moisture 58.7 21.4 Fat 12.5 23.8 Total Protein 20.9 39.7 - Protein binder and 6.3 12.0 emulsifier - Protein fibers14.6 27.7 Example VIII
The procedure of Example I was repeated using the formulation of Example V except that varying proportions of PMM fibre were used, based on the overall composition, and in each case the hardness of the product, as determined by the General Food texturometer was measured and the .
values compared with that of a commercial meat snack.product.
The results are reproduced in the following Table X:
TABLE X

: Sample % PMM fibres Haraness ~1) Cohesiveness (2 ~ ~wt) Texb~nmeter Uhits Uhits .
1 10 33O8 0.74

2` 20 36.3 0.79

3 30 . 40.6 0.78 ; 4 40 41.1 0.87 : 5 . 50 47.8 0.82 ~n~ercial - . 47.5 0.80 Meat Snack PrDduct ~1) Texturometer units = lSt peak height x mV recorder scale voltage (V) 2 (2) Cohesiveness units = 2nd ~eak area st peak area 1~3~

It will be seen from the results of the above Table X that the meat snack analog product made at 50 ~t ~
PMM fibres had comparable hardness and cohesiveness values to the commercial meat snack product.
Taste and texture tests by a trained panel also revealed comparable taste characteristics, such as, oil release and mouthfeel, texture and chewiness and flavour, between the meat snack analog product made at 50 wt~ PMM and the commercial meat snack product.
It will be apparent from the above description and Examples that the present invention provides a meat snack analog product utilizing proteins from non-meat sources. Modifications are possible withLn the scope of the present invention.

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Claims (21)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a method for the formation of a proteinaceous snack product by stuffing a substantially uniform mix of proteins, lipid materials, water, antioxidants, spices, seasonings and flavourings into a suitable casing, drying the stuffed material to a desired moisture content sufficiently low to inhibit microbial growth at ambient temperature, and packaging the dried product in discrete lengths in moisture proof packages, the improvement which comprises forming the proteins, lipid materials and water into said substantially uniform mix by the steps of:
(a) emulsifying at least one food grade lipid material in water using at least one proteinaceous non-meat emulsifier, (b) mixing the lipid emulsion with an aqueous dispersion and/or solution of at least one non-meat protein-aceous binder, and (c) providing at least one non-meat proteinaceous texturing agent substantially uniformly dispersed in the mixture resulting from steps (a) and (b), the ingredients being used in proportions sufficient to provide a snack food product having a water activity value (Aw) less than about 0.95 and having the composition:

Non-meat proteins -texturing protein about 10 to about 70% by wt.
-binding and emulsi- about 5 to about 65% by wt.
fying protein Water about 5 to about 35% by wt.
Lipid material about 10 to about 60% by wt.
Antioxidant up to about 1% by wt.

Suitable spices; col- up to about 15% by wt.
ouring agents and flavourings

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said protein-aceous texturing agent comprises protein fibres and said proteinaceous texturing agent is provided in said mixture by dispersing said protein fibres in said aqueous dispersion and/or solution of at least one non-meat proteinaceous binder prior to mixing thereof with said emulsion.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said proteinaceous texturing agent includes a granular textured vegetable protein and said proteinaceous texturing agent is provided in said mixture by dispersing said proteinaceous texturing agent in said emulsion prior to step (b).

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said proteinaceous texturing agent also includes protein fibres and said pro-teinaceous texturing agent is additionally provided in said mixture by dispersing said protein fibres in said aqueous dispersion and/or solution of at least one non-meat proteinaceous binder prior to mixing thereof with said emulsion.

5. The method of claim 3 or 4 wherein sufficient granular textured vegetable protein is added to said emulsion that rehydration thereof forms a semi-solid meat fat-like product and said fat-like product is granulated prior to mixing step (b).

6. The method of claim 1 wherein at least part of said lipid emulsion is heat set to a semi-solid mass and granulated prior to said mixing step (b), and any of said lipid emulsion not heat set is mixed directly in step (b).

7. The method of claim 6 wherein all said lipid emulsion is heat set and additional lipid material is added to the mixture resulting from step (b).

8. The method of claim 1, 6 or 7 wherein said lipid material is a food grade liquid vegetable oil.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said product also contains:
Salt 0 to about 10% by wt.
Sugars 0 to about 35% by wt.
Preservatives--potassium sorbate 0 to about 0.2% by wt.
-sodium nitrite 0 to about 0.02% by wt.
Antifoam agent 0 to about 0.5% by wt.
Acidifying agent and/or 0 to about 5% by wt.

10. In a method for the formation of a proteinaceous sausage-like snack food product by stuffing a substantially uniform mix of protein, lipid material, water, antioxidants and spices, seasonings and flavourings into a suitable casing, drying the stuffed material to a desired moisture content sufficiently low to inhibit microbial growth at ambient temperature, and packaging the dried product in discrete lengths in moisture-proof packages, the improvement which comprises:
(a) rapidly agitating at least one proteinaceous non-meat food emulsifier in water and mixing the same until the emulsifier protein is completely solvated, (b) emulsifying at least one food grade vegetable oil in the protein solution, (c) rapidly agitating at least one non-meat proteinaceous binder in water and mixing the same until the binder protein is completely solvated, (d) dispersing protein fibres in the resulting protein solution, (e) blending the emulsified oil with the fibre dispersion to form a blend, (f) adding a preservative solution to the blend, and (g) mixing and incorporating salt, sugars and the required spices and flavourings into the blend, the ingredients being used in proportions sufficient to provide a snack food product having a water activity value (Aw) less than about 0.95 and having the composition:
Non-meat proteins -texturing protein about 10 to about 70% by wt.
-binding and emulsi- about 5 to about 65% by wt.
fying protein Water about 5 to about 35% by wt.
Lipid material about 10 to about 60% by wt.
Antioxidant up to about 1% by wt.
Suitable spices, col- up to about 15% by wt.
ouring agents and flavourings

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the ingredients are used in proportions sufficient to provide a snack food product having a water activity value (Aw) of about 0.70 to about 0.75 and the composition:
non-meat proteins -texturing protein about 30 to about 50 wt%.
-binding and emulsi- about 10 to about 30 wt%.
fying protein water about 15 to about 25 wt%.
spices, colours and about 5 to about 10 wt%.
flavourings lipid material about 25 to about 35 wt%.
salt about 5 to about 6 wt%.
sugar about 2 to about 4 wt%.

antioxidant about 0.05 to about 0.1 wt%.
preservatives-potassium sorbate about 0.1 wt%.
sodium nitrite about 0.02 wt%
antifoam agent about 0.01 wt%

12. The method of claim 10 or 11 wherein sodium nitrite is absent from said preservatives.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein said protein fibres are formed by injecting a protein micellar mass into hot water through a plurality of openings to form protein fibres by coagulation.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein said proteinaceous emulsifier comprises a protein micellar mass.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein said proteinaceous binder comprises a protein micellar mass.

16. The method of claim 13, 14 or 15 wherein said protein micellar mass is formed by:
(a) extracting protein from proteinaceous material with an aqueous food grade salt solution at a temperature of about 15° to about 35°C, a salt concentra-tion of at least 0.2 ionic strength and a pH of about 5.5 to about 6.5, and (b) decreasing the ionic strength of the protein solution to a value less than about 0.1 to precipitate and settle said protein micellar mass.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein said food grade salt solution has an ionic strength of about 0.2 to about 0.8 and said extraction is effected for about 10 to about 60 minutes.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein said protein is selected from the group consisting of plant proteins, animal proteins and microbial proteins.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein said proteins are selected from the group consisting of starchy cereals, starchy legumes and oil seeds.

20. A snack product whenever produced by the method of claim 1 or by an obvious chemical equivalent thereof.

21. A snack product whenever produced by the method of claim 10 or by an obvious chemical equivalent thereof.