Functional effect of meat products formulated optimizing lipid profile.

The collaboration of researchers from the Department of Products and from that of Metabolism and Nutrition of the Institute of Food Science, Technology and Nutrition of the Spanish National Research Council (ICTAN-CSIC) within the framework of the Consolider-Ingenio 2010 project (Carnisenusa CSD2007-000216) has enabled us to undertake the design and development of meat products with an improved lipid content and, subsequently, to evaluate their functional effect in individuals with different cardiovascular risk factors (evaluation of the health-promoting properties).

The strategy for optimizing the composition of frankfurters and pâtés was based on the replacement of the animal fat present in these foods by a combination of vegetable oils (olive and linseed) and marine oils (from fish). The resulting products have a reduced fat content, are stable and have adequate physicochemical and organoleptic properties, with an optimized lipid profile. Moreover, their composition justifies the claims that they have high omega-3 fatty acid and unsaturated fat contents (in accordance with Regulation (EC) 1924/2006).

The functional effect of products of this type was assessed by means of their inclusion in the daily diet of individuals with different risk factors of cardiovascular disease. We observed an improvement in the levels of certain biomarkers of cardiovascular risk, including low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol).

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00394-013-0502-1

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