WO2005046359A1

WO2005046359A1 - Restricted meat product and process

Info

Publication number: WO2005046359A1
Application number: PCT/AU2004/001575
Authority: WO
Inventors: Aarti Ben Tobin; Jeffrey Stewart Owen; Keith Ferguson Pitts
Original assignee: Meat & Livestock Australia Limited
Priority date: 2003-11-14
Filing date: 2004-11-15
Publication date: 2005-05-26

Abstract

A method and apparatus for producing a restructured meat product. The method involves providing strips of meat cut such that strip alignment is at least partially independent of fibre alignment, mixing a binder with said strips of meat; and substantially aligning the meat strips with each other in the restructured product. The strips are aligned mixing the binder with strips of meat; and forcing the mixture of the binder and the strips through a conduit to align the meat strips with each other in the restructured product. The binder includes a meat emulsion and brine.

Description

TITLE: RESTRUCTURED MEAT PRODUCT AND PROCESS

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to meat processing and in particular, restructured meat products.

Background of the Invention The red meat industry often uses low value non-steak cuts of meat and trim to produce relatively low value product. These pieces of meat are generally unsuitable for sale as premium cuts because of their size and/or shape, as well as fat and connective tissue. This type of meat usually requires further processing to improve the palatability of the final product. The processing normally involves cornminuting (e.g. mincing) to break down the collagen and fat present in the meat. However, comminuting the meat often leads to the loss of the characteristic fibrous texture of meat. This loss of texture can be somewhat restored by restructuring the meat.

Comminution removes the collagen toughness problem, without excessive loss of meat structure and the restructuring process gives the cormninuted meat an appearance and texture similar to that of whole tissue meat. One known method of re-forming meat pieces uses cold-set binders that form a bind between the raw meat pieces upon chilling. The eating quality of restructured steaks, roasts and strips produced in this way is highly variable. Furthermore, the appearance of the product has a non-uniform or "checkerboard" appearance, which highlights the fact that it has been processed. It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative.

Disclosure of the Invention In a first aspect, the invention provides a method of producing a restructured meat product, the method including: providing strips of meat such that strip alignment is at least partially independent of fibre alignment; mixing a binder with said strips of meat; and substantially aligning the meat strips with each other in the restructured product. Preferably, the strips have a substantially random fibre alignment. Preferably, the method includes the step of forcing the mixture of the binder and the strips through a conduit to substantially align the meat strips with each other in the restructured product. In a second aspect, the invention provides a method of producing a restructured meat product, the method including: mixing a binder with strips of meat; and forcing the mixture of the binder and the strips through a conduit to substantially align the meat strips with each other in the restructured product. In a third aspect, the invention provides a restructured meat product produced by the method recited in either of the preceding aspects. Preferably, the binder includes a meat emulsion. However, the device and method discussed above is also workable with a cold-set binder, whey protein, soy protein, starch, vegetable gum, hot-set binder or a combination of these. For commercial reasons, it is preferable that the meat emulsion is made from low- value trim. In a particularly preferred form, brine is mixed into the strips before the emulsion is added. Preferably, the brine is a salt and phosphate brine. Advantageously, the brine is greater than 10% by weight of the final product mix. In one embodiment, the brine is approximately 12.5% by weight of the final product mix and includes 88.30% by weight water, 6.75% by weight salt, 2.25% by weight sodium tripolyphosphate and 2.70% by weight sugar. (Hereinafter % by weight will be written as "wt%".) Preferably, the brine is made by adding the sodium tripolyphosphate to chilled water and mixing until dissolved, then mixing in the sugar and salt until dissolved. hi another embodiment, the brine is approximately 15wt% of the final product mix and includes 90.03wt% water, 5.75wt% salt, 1.92wt% sodium tripolyphosphate and 2.30wt% sugar. The brine is added to the strips and mixed to ensure the strips are thoroughly coated. The brine extracts some salt soluble proteins to the surface of the strips which gel upon heating. This assists the binding process after the emulsion has been added and mixed. The emulsion is the main binding agent, however the combination of emulsion and brine gives the mixture a viscosity that allows the strips to flow more easily through the conduit and unravel themselves. Preferably, the meat emulsion includes starch water binding agents. However, vegetable gum as well as other hot and cold-set water binding agents may also be used. In addition, caramel colouring may be added. In one specific embodiment, the brine and the meat emulsion binder has approximately: ^■ 27.45wt% water/ice slurry; ^■ 68.725wt% meat trim; ■ 2.00wt% modified starch; ■ 0.75wt% salt; ■ 0.25wt% sodium tripolyphosphate; ^■ 0.30wt% sugar; ■ 0.40wt% vegetable gum; and ■ 0.125wt% caramel colouring. Preferably, the meat trim is minced using a mincing plate and cut in a bowl chopper with the salt, the sodium tripolyphosphate, the sugar, the caramel colouring and half the water/ice slurry , and then adding the starch, the vegetable gum and the remaining water/ice slurry whereupon it is again cut until a smooth emulsion is formed. From this embodiment, the restructured meat product has approximately: ^■ 72.5wt% of meat strips; ■ 15.0wt% of meat emulsion; and ■ 12.5wt% of brine. Preferably, the product is low in salt and/or fat. Preferably, the product includes one or more additives selected from the group of encapsulated Omega 3 oils, polyphenols, antioxidants and free radical scavengers, probiotics and/or resistant starches. In a fourth aspect, the invention provides a device for producing restructured meat products from strips of meat mixed with a binder, the device including: a conduit and a means to force the mixture along the conduit, such that the strips of meat substantially align with each other in the restructured product. In one preferred form, the means to force the strips of meat and the binder along the conduit in a meat pump/filler with an apertured end connected to the conduit. In a further preferred form, the meat pump/filler has two or more apertures in the end, each connected to respective adjacent conduits, the adjacent conduits in turn connecting to a single, larger extrusion conduit from which the restructured meat product is extruded. Advantageously, the edge of the apertures are bevelled such that they are slightly larger on the inside surface than they are on the outside surface of the cylinder end. In a particularly preferred form, the apertures are circular and the bevelled edges form a frustoconical surface in the cylinder end. Conveniently, the meat has a series of cuts across its surface to reduce the size of its connective tissue before it is sliced into strips or shredded. Preferably, the strips are approximately 10 mm wide and 100 mm long. Surprisingly is has been found that it is not necessary to cut the strips in alignment with the meat fibres. Advantageously, a product with good eating qualities can be produced by tenderising the meat and aligning the strips. Preferably, the meat cuts are medium value primal cuts. For example, blade, chuck, navel end brisket, flank, eye round, outside flank and topside. Other tenderisation techniques may be used prior to cutting into strips. In particular, it may be convenient to tenderise the meat cuts. In one form, the meat cuts are cut into slices approximately 20 mm thick, covered with a sheet of heavy grade plastic and pounded. In another form, the meat cuts are vacuum sealed in a heavy duty plastic bag and mechanically compressed. The mechanical compression may be provided by flat metal press or a metal forming press. Preferably, the meat cuts are vacuum sealed in heavy duty plastic bags chilled to less than 5°C and ideally about -5°C, then placed between metal sheets and fed between rollers. In a further preferred form, the cut is fed through a series of sheet metals rollers wherein the gap between successive pairs of rollers progressively decreases. In another form, the meat cuts are vacuum sealed in heavy duty plastic bags, chilled to less than 5°C before mechanical tenderisation in a crimper. In this form, the meat cuts are rotated 90° and crimped again to improve tenderisation. The meat cuts may subsequently be subjected to metal striking plates. Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a meat fibre alignment device for producing a restructured meat product according to the present invention; Figure 2 shows a manifold for combining several adjacent conduits into a larger extrusion conduit; Figure 3 shows the manifold disassembled when the internal vanes are exposed; Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the bevelled edge of an aperture in the lid of the cylinder that drives the meat and binder mix; and Figure 5 and 6 are views of the end of the device displaying the extension tube attached to the end of the manifold.

Preferred Embodiments of the Invention Fig. 1 is a representation of the meat fibre alignment device. Meat strips and binder are mixed and placed in a meat pump/filler 1. The meat pump/filler may include hydraulic sausage fillers, vane and screw driven pump/fillers, piston pump/fillers. In any case they all are designed to force the meat mixture out of the pump reservoir, through apertures in the filler lid 2 into hoses 3. As the meat mixture moves through the hoses 3, the meat strips tend to align under the forces generated by field dynamic drag against the interior of the hoses. Alignment of the meat strips initiates at the internal wall surface and progresses radially inwards to the centre of the cylinder of meat mixture. Alignment of the meat strips requires a greater length of travel in larger diameter tubes. A 55 mm diameter hose requires the meat mixture to travel approximately 6 to 8 metres before alignment of the meat strips has progressed through to the centre of the cylinder. While this embodiment uses flexible, vinyl hoses, in alternative embodiments, the hoses may be replaced with other types of flexible hoses or rigid tubes formed of stainless steel, plastic, aluminium or any other suitable material. To reduce the overall dimensions of the device, the ratio of the internal surface to meat volume is increased by using several adjacent hoses, hi this case eight adjacent hoses 3 are used, each having an internal diameter of 32 mm and a length of only 1.5 metres. Ideally, the tubes should be stepped, with tube sizes reducing along the length of the filler to force more strip alignment within the tube. For instance, 55mm from the lid, then 32mm from lid to the manifold. To provide a final product of suitable size, the aligned smaller flows of meat are combined into a larger aligned flow of meat using the manifold shown in Figure 2.

The eight separate hoses connect to the inlet tubes 4 that guide the meat mixture into a single larger tube 5. The inlet tubes 4 lead into the larger tubes 5 at a shallow angle so as not to disrupt the alignment of the strips or inhibit the flow. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 3, the larger outlet tube 5 has internal vanes 6 to keep the individual meat mixture flows separate until they reach the outlet 7 of the manifold. The composite log extruded from the outlet 7 may be filled into plastic or fibrous casing or wrapped in netting. Lengths of the composite logs are frozen and may be conveniently cut into sizes suitable for roasts, medallions, steaks, strips or cubes and so on. Referring to Figure 4, an enlarged view of the inside of the filler lid is shown. The aperture 8 has a bevelled surface 9 around its periphery. From close examination of the flow mechanics through the filler lid 2, it is clear that the meat strips begin to align themselves as they pass over the bevelled edge 9 of the lid apertures 8. This alignment continues as the meat mixture passes through the vinyl hoses 3. However, experimental results have shown that the bevelled edge 9 of the lid aperture 8 is an important factor in the initial alignment of the meat strips. In the embodiment depicted in the drawings, the filler 1 has eight apertures in the lid connected to eight hoses which combine to form the composite log. However, in alternative embodiments, any number of hoses may be combined to form the log. The central core tube, or any other tube, can be attached to a separate filler, so a roast can be filled with a stuffing if required. In further embodiments displayed in Figures 5 & 6, an extension tube 10 can be attached to the end of the manifold. The tube 10 has no internal vanes and is approximately 3mm narrower than the manifold. The extension tube provides a slight blending of the surface of the meat tubes and to provide extra compression of the meat log before filling. Medium value primal cuts of meat are suitable for the present invention because they are readily cut into strips. Skilled workers in this field will appreciate that primal cuts are large muscles or muscle groups. These include blade, chuck, navel and brisket, flank, eye round, outside flat and topside. These medium value primals are high in connective tissue which gives an unwanted variable texture in the final product. Cutting these primals into strips is a form of comminution or size reduction, which tenderises the meat. However, the strips are still large enough to have a variable texture. In light of this, the best results are achieved if the meat is tenderised. The most effective tenderisation method for a quality product and a commercial scale application of the process involves making a series of parallel cuts into the surface of the meat. These cuts sever the connective tissue into smaller pieces and this method is commonly used in many commercial applications where large volumes of meat are tenderised. Other mechanical tenderising techniques are also suitable. For example, the meat cut may be covered with a sheet of heavy grade plastic and pounded with a weighted hammer, plastic coated metal mallet or a heavy nylon cylinder. This separates the muscle fibres from each other and from the connective tissue surrounding them. However, a number of the fibres themselves are ruptured by this treatment and uneven pounding of the meat makes it less suitable for a commercial scale application. The meat cuts may be vacuum sealed in a heavy duty plastic bag and pressed in a flat metal press or metal forming press. However, these methods are time- consuming and again the application of pressure on the meat is uneven, resulting in an unevenly tenderised product. Similarly, the meat can be passed through a set of rollers. Again, the meat cuts are vacuum sealed in a heavy duty plastic bag and chilled or frozen so that the ice crystals promote the break up of connective tissue during the rolling process. The meat cuts are sandwiched between two metal sheets before they are fed through the rollers. Greater tenderisation can be achieved by several passes through the rollers, the gap between the rollers decreasing with each subsequent pass. The flattened meat is easy to cut into strips and this method is suited to processing large volumes of meat in a short period of time. Furthermore, frozen meat is rigid enough to prevent any bunching up of the meat cuts between the rollers. Crimping is another mechanical tenderisation technique whereby the vacuum sealed bags of meat are progressively fed through a crimper. For better tenderisation, the meat can be rotated 90° and passed through the crimper a second time. The meat may also be subjected to weighted striking plates in order to flatten and further tenderise. However, this method may not provide sufficiently consistent tenderisation or enough time efficiency for a commercial scale application. Once tenderised, the meat cuts are sliced into strips or shredded. Strips or shreds of about 10 mm wide and 100 mm long provide the most acceptable final product. Surprisingly, it has been found that the orientation of the strips cut from the meat is not particularly relevant to the eating quality of the restructured meat product. Accordingly, it is not necessary to cut the meat strips in the direction of the fibres in the muscle. It will be appreciated this provides significant time-saving benefits. An acceptable product can be produced by just mixing the strips, brine and emulsion and filling directing into a casing, but by aligning the strips the product has better eating qualities ie a meaty texture.

Binder System The binding system is critical to the quality of the final restructured meat product. It directly influences the strength of bind between individual pieces of meat and therefore the eating quality. Factors to be considered when selecting an appropriate binder include: ^■ the pliability of the meat strips; ^■ assistance to the flow of the meat strips through the tubes; ■ enough viscosity to provide back pressure; ^■ a strong bind between the strips in the final restructured meat product; ■ a similar colour to the meat strips when cooked; ^■ flavour compatibility with the meat strips when cooked; and ^■ minimisation of cooking losses. Some known binders include cold-set binders (e.g. sodium alginate), whey protein, soy protein, starch, vegetable gum, hot set binders and combinations of these. However, the best binder for the present invention, taking into account the factors discussed above, is a binding system of brine and a meat emulsion which may include some of the above binders as preferred. The meat emulsion can be formed from low value meat trim, which serves to reduce the ingredient costs of the final product. However, the use of meat emulsion alone can result in poor pliability of the meat strips in the final product. Accordingly, brine is added to the meat emulsion, and in particular, a salt and phosphate brine. The brine moistens the strips to promote the coating of the emulsion on the strips as well as allowing the extraction of proteins from the meat strips. In particular, the salt in the brine extracts salt soluble protein onto the surface of the meat strips where the combination of salt soluble proteins and meat emulsion enhance binding. This gives the final product a very strong bind between meat strips. The phosphate and water in the brine help to retain moisture within the meat strips, thereby improving the tenderness and minimising texture variations in the final product. The brine also helps to lower the viscosity of the meat mixture so that it flows more easily through the conduits and the strips unravel and align readily. Using 10wt% brine in the meat mixture gave the final product a good bind, flavour and texture but the meat flow and strip alignment through the alignment device was somewhat difficult. Increasing the brine content to 12.5 - 15 wt% significantly improved these issues.

Brine Formulation Levels of brine of between 10wt% and 25wt% by weight have been trialed with the optimum being levels of between 12.5wt% and 20.0wt%. Brine formulations of 12.5wt% and 15wt% extension are shown in Tables 1A and IB, respectively. The sodium tripolyphosphate is added to chilled water (approximately 4°C) and mixed until dissolved. Then the salt and sugar are also dissolved into the mix and the resulting brine can be stored at about 0°C to 4°C in a food grade container until required. Sodium tripolyphosphate may be present in levels from 0.18wt% to 0.30wt% however the optimum appears to be 0.25wt%.

Table 1A - Brine formulation for 12.5% extension

Table IB - Brine formulation for 15.0% extension

The above percentages may be varied, for instance, salt levels were trialed ranging from 0.25% to 1.0%. Sugar, may also be varied with levels ranging from 0.15% to 0.40% considered.

Meat Emulsion The beef trim used in the meat emulsion is minced using an 8 mm mincing plate and cut in a bowl chopper with salt, phosphate, sugar, caramel and half the ice water slurry. The starch, vegetable gum and remainder of the ice water slurry is then added and cut further until a smooth emulsion is formed. The fat content of the trim has a major impact on the quality of the roast product but not on the steaks or cubes. Fat content, measured as Chemical Lean (CL), of the beef trim trialed was in the range of 65-90CL. For a roast product the optimum level was 80-85 CL trim. For the steaks or cubes any of the CL's trialed (65-85CL) produced an acceptable product. The meat emulsion also includes a modified starch and a vegetable gum in order to reduce cooking losses and improve the bind in the final product. An unmodified starch may be used in place of the modified starch. Sugar, may also be varied with levels ranging from 0.15% to 0.40% considered. Caramel colouring is used to minimise the checkerboard appearance and reduce the visual variation of the final product. A suitable formulation for the binder is set out below in Table 2. Table 2 - Meat Emulsion Formulation

The meat strips are weighed and put in a paddle mixer. The brine is added and mixed with the strips at a slow speed for approximately 3 minutes or until the brine is absorbed by the meat. Then the meat emulsion is added and mixed for a further 2.5 minutes until the strips are evenly coated with the meat emulsion. The mixing time may vary depending on the size of the batch and the type of mixer used Using the above formulations, the ingredient percentages of three preferred restructured meat product is shown below in Table 3.

Table 3. Restructured meat formulations

The above described binder fills the tenderisation cuts in the surface of the meat strips and evenly coats each strip with a minimum of air pockets. The final restructured meat product had a good bind, appearance, and texture. It is possible to increase or decrease the percentage of strips in the product, for instance, products have been trialed with ranges of between 62.5% to 75.0%, however, the optimum strip percentage seems to be between 67.5 to 12.5% to produce a product with good eating qualities. Feedback from informal sensory panels has found that products with a meat fibre alignment of greater than 65% provide good eating quality. Restructured meat products produced according to the above formulations/methods were cut into 15 mm thick steaks and 700g roasts. Both were cooked from a frozen, and thawed condition and assessed for bind strength, degree of fibre alignment, visual appearance and overall eating quality. The steaks had good bind quality, were tender, "meaty", with a good bite. The roasts had good bind strength at the exterior which tended to reduce at the centre tube of the composite log, however, the fibre alignment remained above 70% and maintained good eating quality. The invention may also be tailored to suit healthy eating by selecting the constituent ingredients to provide a product which is low in salt and/or fat. h addition, the product may include additives such as encapsulated Omega 3 oils for cardiac health, encapsulated polyphenols and flavones, as free radical scavengers and antioxidants, encapsulated probiotics and/or resistant starches for gut health promotion. While the above invention has been developed and described as being applied to beef products, it is equally applicable to other varieties of meat such as lamb, pork, fish and seafood, poultry, emu, kangaroo, goat, sheep and other meats. In addition, either the strips and/or emulsion may contain one or more varieties of meats in the same product. Other additives to the product are also possible. Such additive may be herbs and/or spices, or vitamins, minerals or functional foods. These may be added to the emulsion/brine or at any other stage during production. The present invention has been described herein by way of example only. Skilled workers in this field will readily recognise many variations and modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the broad inventive concept.

Claims

1. A method of producing a restructured meat product, the method including: providing strips of meat cut such that strip alignment is at least partially independent of fibre alignment; mixing a binder with said strips of meat; and substantially aligning the meat strips with each other in the restructured product.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the strips have a substantially random fibre alignment.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2 including the step of forcing the mixture of the binder and the strips through a conduit to substantially align the meat strips with each other in the restructured product.

4. A method of producing a restructured meat product, the method including: mixing a binder with strips of meat; and forcing the mixture of the binder and the strips through a conduit to substantially align the meat strips with each other in the restructured product.

5. A restructured meat product produced by the method according to any one of the preceding claims.

6. A restructured meat product according to claim 5 wherein the binder includes a meat emulsion.

7. A restructured meat product according to claim 5 wherein the binder includes brine, and the brine is mixed into the strips before the emulsion is added.

8. A restructured meat product according to claim 5 wherein the restructured meat product includes 62.5wt% to 75wt% of meat strips and preferably, 67.5wt% to

72.5wt% of meat strips.

9. A restructured meat product according to claim 5 wherein the restructured meat product includes 15wt% to 20wt% of meat emulsion.

10. A restructured meat product according to claim 5 wherein the restructured meat product includes 10wt% to 25wt% and preferably 12.5wt% to 15wt% of brine.

11. A restructured meat product according to claim 7 wherein the brine includes: 88.30wt% to 90.03wt% water, 5.75wt% to 6.75wt% salt, 1.92wt% to 2.25wt% sodium tripolyphosphate, and 2.30wt% to 2.70wt% sugar; and made by adding the sodium tripolyphosphate to chilled water and mixed until dissolved, then mixing in the sugar and salt until dissolved.

12. A restructured meat product according to claim 6 wherein the meat emulsion is made from low- value trim.

13. A restructured meat product according to claim 12 wherein the fat content of the beef trim is in the range of 65-90CL and preferably in the range 80-85 CL.

14. A restructured meat product according to claim 6 wherein the meat emulsion includes starch or vegetable gum as a water binding agent.

15. A restructured meat product according to claim 5 wherein the binder has approximately: 27.45wt% water/ice slurry; 68.725wt% meat trim; 2.00wt% modified starch; 0.75wt% salt; 0.25wt% sodium tripolyphosphate; 0.30wt% sugar; 0.125wt% caramel colouring; and 0.400wt% vegetable gum wherein the meat trim is minced using a mincing plate and cut in a bowl chopper prior to mixing in the salt, the sodium tripolyphosphate, the sugar and half the water/ice slurry, and then adding the starch and the remaining water/ice slurry whereupon it is again cut until smoothly emulsified.

16. A restructured meat product according to any one of claims 5 to 15 wherein a series of tenderising cuts are made across the surface of the meat cuts to reduce the size of its connective tissue before it is sliced into strips.

17. A restructured meat product according to any one of claims 5 to 16 wherein the strips are approximately 10 mm wide and 100 mm long.

18. A restructured meat product according to any one of claims 5 to 17 wherein the meat cuts are medium value primal cuts.

19. A restructured meat product according to any one of claims 5 to 18 wherein the meat cuts are tenderised prior to being cut into strips or shredded.

20. A restructured meat product according to any one of claims 5 to 19 further including includes one or more additives selected from the group of encapsulated Omega 3 oils, polyphenols, antioxidants, free radical scavengers, probiotics and resistant starches.

21. A restructured meat product according to any one of claims 5 to 19 wherein the meat cuts are beef.

22. A restructured meat product according to any one of claims 5 to 19 wherein the meat cuts are one or more meats selected from the group of beef, veal, lamb, pork, fish, seafood, poultry, emu, kangaroo, goat, sheep, crocodile and game.

23. A binder for a restructured meat product, the binder including brine and a meat emulsion.

24. A binder according to claim 23 wherein the brine is a salt and phosphate brine.

25. A binder according to claim 23 or 24 wherein the brine is greater than 10wt% and preferably 15% of the restructured meat product.

26. A binder according to any one of claims 23 to 25 wherein the brine is 88.3wt% to 90.03wt% water, 5.75wt% to 6.75wt% salt, 1.92wt% to 2.25wt% sodium tripolyphosphate and 2.30wt% to 2.70wt% sugar; and is made by adding the sodium tripolyphosphate to chilled water and mixed to dissolved, then mixing in the sugar and salt until dissolved.

27. A binder according to any one of claims 23 to 26 wherein the meat emulsion is made from low-value trim.

28. A binder according to any one of claims 23 to 27 wherein the meat emulsion includes starch or vegetable gum as water binding agent.

29. A binder according to any one of claims 23 to 28 wherein the binder has approximately: 27.45wt% water/ice slurry; 68.725wt% meat trim; 2.00wt% modified starch; 0.75wt% salt; 0.25wt% sodium tripolyphosphate; 0.30wt% sugar; 0.125wt% caramel colouring; and 0.400wt% vegetable gum

30. A device for producing restructured meat products from strips of meat mixed with a binder, the device including: a conduit and a means to force the mixture along the conduit, such that the strips of meat substantially align with each other in the restructured product.

31. A device according to claim 30 wherein the means to force the strips of meat and the binder along the conduit in a meat pump/filler with an apertured end connected to the conduit.

32. A device according to claim 31 wherein the meat pump/filler has two or more apertures in the end, each connected to respective adjacent conduits, the adjacent conduits in turn connecting to a single, larger extrusion conduit from which the restructured meat product is extruded.

33. A device according to claim 30 wherein the edge of the apertures are bevelled such that they are slightly larger on the inside surface than they are on the outside surface of the cylinder end.

34. A device according to claim 33 wherein the apertures are circular and the bevelled edges form a frustoconical surface in the cylinder end.

35. A device according to claim 32 wherein the larger extrusion conduit includes a further extension conduit of reduced internal diameter.