How does this exactly work?
Various mechanisms work here. First of all,
there is the so-called displacement effect,
known in science as the Jameson effect, in
which a dominant culture simply displaces
unwanted germs. This happens, for example,
through competition for nutrients, oxygen
or binding sites to the substrate. In addition,
certain metabolic products of the cultures,
so-called metabolites, can influence harmful
germs.
Such mechanisms are used in a variety of foods
in very different ways. Well-known examples
are alcoholic fermentation or acidification
processes such as those used in raw sausage
or sauerkraut. These different activities enable
a variety of approaches to create additional
hurdles in addition to existing hygiene and
quality concepts, which offer a plus in safety
and quality maintenance.
Which foods can be protected with Bioprotection?
First of all, all fermented products. That's
about one third of all the food we consume
in Germany every day. This starts with alcoholic
beverages, goes through meat products such
as salami or raw ham, to vegetable products
such as sauerkraut or fermented olives. And
of course a wide variety of dairy products such
as cheese, yoghurt and curd.
In addition, other innovative areas of applica-tion
have developed over the past few years:
Our SafePro® cultures offer the added benefit
of selectively combating Listeria monocyto-.
genes. This offers efficient approaches for
smoked salmon, among other things, since
the prevalence of this dangerous pathogen
THIS IS CHR. HANSEN
Chr. Hansen has been researching and pro-ducing
microorganisms for over 140 years in
order to use them to improve the quality of
food and thus world health. This vision has
remained unchanged since its foundation in
1874. The company’s product innovations are
based on a collection of more than 30,000
strains of “good bacteria”, the properties of
which have been extensively tested and doc-umented.
All products are developed on the
basis of extensive research and development
activities, a comprehensive understanding of
customer requirements and continuous invest-ment
in state-of-the-art production standards.
www.chr-hansen.com
profile such as cheese, wine or sauerkraut.
Accordingly, the use of selected cultures is no
longer limited to traditionally fermented foods
alone, but is increasingly focusing on new
applications, such as meat preparations, cooked
meats or smoked fish, where a wide range of
opportunities to improve both the quality and
safety of food are opening up. In an interview
with , Michael Erkes, Head of Sales &
Marketing Meat Industry at Chr. Hansen,
explains how bioprotection, product safety
and extended MHDs are related.
Mr. Erkes, the keyword Bioprotection is gaining increa-
sing attention within the food industry – especially in
the meat industry. Could you briefly describe the basic
principle behind this?
Bioprotection is a natural way of protecting
food from spoilage and dangerous germs. The
targeted use of selected microorganisms inhib-its
or even reduces the growth of undesirable
microorganisms. To put it simply: we use good
bacteria whose properties we know in order to
displace unwanted bacteria. This not only keeps
our products fresh and safe, but also protects
our customers' brands.
in this product is comparatively high by
nature.
Even in ready-to-eat cooked meat products
such as sliced boiled ham or vacuum-packed
cooked sausages, such cultures offer the possi-bility
of avoiding the risk of L. monocytogenes
multiplying during storage. Another example
is ready-to-eat Fresh Cut salads. Even with the
most thorough cleaning and hygienic process-ing,
these products naturally have a certain
load of spoilage-promoting germs. Here, too,
Bioprotection offers approaches to optimise
product safety, extend shelf life and improve
sustainability.
What is the difference between Bioprotection and
conventional preservatives?
Consumers want fresh and natural products
that are free of artificial preservatives. We
can help our customers meet this demand.
Cultures meet consumer demands for natural
ingredients and thus for a so-called clean label
without E-numbers.
Another advantage is sustainability: the
principle of bioprotection is based on micro-organisms,
which generally exert their effect
over the entire product cycle up to the end
of the MHD. This begins with production
and continues in the packaged and opened
product. In particular with regard to Listeria
monocytogenes, this results in great advan-tages,
as in many cases reproduction over the
entire shelf life can be prevented. In order to
validate this in the specific case and under the
respective process conditions, our laboratories
and experts on site support the food produc-ers
within the framework of individual storage
tests and challenge studies.
Last but not least, the effect of microorgan-isms
is not limited to preservation alone. As
mentioned at the beginning, cultures contri-
bute in many ways through their activities to
the production of tasty foods with characte-
ristic product properties.
Mr. Erkes, we thank you for the interview.
Last but not least: Die Wirkung von Mikroorga-nismen
beschränkt sich ja nicht ausschließlich
auf die Konservierung allein. Wie eingangs er-wähnt,
tragen Kulturen durch ihre Aktivitäten
auf vielfältige Weise dazu bei, schmackhafte
Lebensmittel mit charakteristischen Produkt-eigenschaften
zu erzeugen.
Herr Erkes, wir danken Ihnen für das Gespräch.
Continued from page 36
HALTBARKEIT
38 1 / 2019 DURABILITY
Foto: Chr. Hansen