The Risk of Salt Reduction in Dry-Cured Sausage Assessed by the Influence on Water Activity and the Survival of Salmonella

Abstract

Water activity (aw) is the main hurdle for microbial control in dry-cured sausages. The aw can be influenced by drying or adding electrolytes or humectants. Dry-cured meat products are partially dried, which, together with added salt, results in safe aw values. Currently, there is a trend to reduce salt in meat products, which can compromise the preservation process. The present work aims to evaluate the influences of added salt levels (1% or 3%) and the use or omission of phosphates and wine on the aw of a dry-cured sausage, and to evaluate the possibility of estimating the aw from the moisture loss and the behavior of Salmonella during dry-cured sausage (chouriço) processing. There was a strong relationship between moisture and aw, regardless of the salt level and the presence of phosphates or wine. Predicting aw from moisture loss is possible using the Boltzmann sigmoid function. The salt level strongly influences Salmonella behavior, mainly through aw reduction. An increase in aw by 0.01 units reduced the odds of achieving a 5-log reduction in Salmonella counts to half. Increasing added salt from 1% to 3% increased the odds of achieving a 5-log Salmonella reduction 7.5-fold. The current trend to reduce salt in foods must be carefully approached if applied to cured meat products, as it has substantial consequences on aw evolution and Salmonella survival.

The Effect of the Improvement Technology on the Quality of Midu Pork Roll

“…From a practical point of view, Aw measures the amount of water available for microbial metabolism, which controls the pathogen and spoilage microorganism growth and reproduction [ 25 ]. Wang et al [ 26 ] reported that products have a longer shelf life and a higher quality with lower Aw.…”

Producción de salchichas saludables: Una revisión de los sustitutos de origen vegetal para grasa, carne y sales

“…Muchos de los consumidores esperan productos que estén casi libres de aditivos. Sin embargo, se debe tener en cuenta que la reducción de sales podría comprometer la inocuidad del alimento debido al aumento de la actividad de agua AW y por tanto la posibilidad de proliferación de microorganismos como la salmonella (Patarata et al, 2022). Efectivamente se determinó que las reducciones combinadas de sal y grasa en las salchichas fermentadas en seco aumentaron la acidificación, las pérdidas de peso y la aw, lo cual generó más proteólisis, menos lipólisis y menos oxidación (Safa et al, 2015).…”