CLASSIFICATION OF MEAT PRODUCTS
Research Institute for the Food Industry
Octavio Venegas Fornias1 and Caridad Valladares Daz2
Summary
The literature on the classification of meat
products is briefly reviewed and a primary
grouping based on whether or not the
products are subjected to heat is proposed.
Within these two broad groups, products
are subdivided according to process
variants or to a main characteristic of their
technology. This classification covers all
Cuban meat products as well as other
imported products.
DeCS Descriptors: MEAT PRODUCTS /
grading; MEAT PRODUCTS / standard;
QUALITY OF FOOD.
The classification of meat products is the
starting point for their standardization,
which is carried out by establishing
identity standards and quality
specifications, as well as for quality
production certification procedures and
the quality control analysis quality system
And control of critical points. However, it
is difficult to classify the meat products by
their wide assortment.
The classifications of meat products are
diverse and are based on criteria such as
the types of raw materials that compose
them, the structure of their mass, whether
or not they are embedded, whether or not
they undergo heat or some other process
Characteristic in its processing
technology, the form of the finished
product, its durability or any other criteria
or names derived from traditional customs
and customs.
For example, Spanish legislation1 is
classified into: fresh, raw-marinated, raw-
cured, heat treated, meat salted, pre-
prepared meat dishes and other meat
products. J.Flores2, for its part, gathers
them into two large groups: those formed
by pieces (muscular packages with or
without bone) and those formed by pastas
(made with more or less chopped meats),
within which it establishes other
subgroups.
The French classification establishes
several groups differentiated from one
another by the characteristics of the raw
materials constituting the products:
consisting of salted pieces, mixtures of
minced meat, meat and edible offal, blood-
based, etc. These groups are established
different categories according to the
technological treatment applied to the
products.2
In Bulgarian legislation3 meat products
are classified into 5 groups according to
the raw materials used, the durability, the
mechanical treatment to which they are
subjected and whether or not they are
treated with heat, establishing at the same
time multiple subgroups according to
different characteristics of the treatment
Technology or the products themselves.
On the other hand, in the USA 4 they are
generally ordered under the heading of
sausages and other prepared meat
products, which in turn comprise 30
headings in which they are classified as
preserved, cured, smoked, frozen, sausage
And other prepared meats and meat
specialties designated by their specific
names.
In Colombia, they are classified into 3
large groups depending on whether or not
a heat treatment is applied and the type of
heat treatment: cooked processed
products, canned processed products and
raw processed products, which in turn are
subdivided into fresh and matured crude
oils.5,6
In the Cuban meat industry they are
distributed in 7 groups: 7 salted, smoked,
canned, Spanish type products, sausages,
other canned meats and other products.
Schmidt and Ruharjo8 describe them in 5
groups: cured meats, sectioned and shaped
products, ground products, finely chopped
products and fermented products.
Manev9 proposes an ordering of meat
products in 9 groups: raw or fresh
sausages, cooked sausages, smoked and
cooked sausages, semi-dry smoked
sausages, dry sausages, salted products,
salted and smoked products, salted and
dried products and other types of products
.
In Germany and other German-speaking
countries in Europe the sausages are
divided into 3 classes: (a) raw, which in
turn are subdivided into slices and cut; (B)
cooked, heat-treated and mainly made
from pre-cooked meat-based raw
materials; (C) scalded, heat treated and
usually made from raw meat raw
materials.10
In Central America, sausages are classified
into 6 groups: cooked, fresh, dry, smoked,
and combinations of 2 or more of the
above.11
In our view, the application or otherwise of
a heat treatment to meat products is the
main feature that allows a primary division
of these in raw products and heat treated
products.
In the case of raw products, desirable
changes in their organoleptic
characteristics and satisfactory sanitary
stability and safety through fermentation
processes are generally achieved or Dried
or salted.
In heat-treated products together with the
modification of their organoleptic
properties by means of cooking, the heat
treatment has as main objective to
eliminate microorganisms and to
inactivate enzymes, which is fundamental
for the durability, the quality and the safety
of the products. 12
The heat treatments applied in meat
products are pasteurization and
sterilization generally using conventional
heating methods (water, steam or dry air)
.12
In sterilization the product is heated to a
temperature above 100 C in the center of
its mass. In this way it is possible to
destroy the microorganisms and their
spores to make the product stable at room
temperature. The intensity of the process is
measured by means of the value F which
expresses the time required, in minutes, at
a given temperature to achieve a lethal
effect on microorganisms. Frequently F0
is used, which expresses the necessary
time at 121 C to destroy Clostridium
botulinum and its spores, taken as a
reference microorganism.
In pasteurization the product is heated
until it reaches a temperature in the range
of 65 to 75 C. At these temperatures the
enzymes are inactivated and the vegetative
microorganisms are eliminated, but
bacterial spores survive; Also the
coagulation of meat proteins that give the
product its textural characteristics is
achieved.
From this initial division into 2 large
groups we ordered the products by
distributing them into subgroups defined
on the basis of relevant characteristics of
their processing technology.
1. Meat products. These are products
containing mammalian meat and / or
poultry and / or game intended for human
consumption.
1.1 Raw meat products. They are those
subjected to a technological process that
does not include a heat treatment.
1.1.1 Fresh raw meat products. They are
the raw products made with ground meat
and fat, with or without addition of by-
products and / or extenders and / or
permitted additives, whether or not cured,
which can be cured or not and smoked or
not.
They include: burgers, sausages, fresh
pork butifarra, extended minced meat, raw
pasta, bratwurst, mettwurst and others.
1.1.2 Fermented raw meat products. They
are the raw products made with ground or
minced meat or fat or pieces of meat intact,
embedded or not that undergo a process of
maturation that confers its organoleptic
characteristics and conservability, with the
addition or not of initiator cultures and
allowed additives, Can be cured or not,
dried or not and smoked or not.
They include: sausages, salami, spreadable
pasta, raw ham, fermented sausage and
tokens, over-cooked, pepperoni, cervelat
and others.
1.1.3 Raw salted meat products. They are
the raw products made with pieces of meat
or by-products and preserved by means of
a salting process, being able to be cured or
not, smoked or not and dried or not.
They include: salted small, bacon, tasajo.
1.2 Heat-treated meat products. They are
those that during their elaboration have
been subjected to some type of thermal
treatment.
1.2.1 Meat and meat products. They are
those made with a type of meat or a
mixture of 2 or more meats and fat, ground
and / or chopped, raw or cooked, with or
without addition of permitted by-products
and / or extenders and / or additives, placed
in natural casings or Or molds and which
undergo one or more of the curing, drying,
smoking and cooking treatments.
1.2.2 Whole parts cured and smoked. They
are meat products made with intact
anatomical pieces and permitted additives,
with or without extensors, in which the
smoking, curing and cooking processes
play a major role.
They include: hams, bacon, smoked loin,
lacn and others.
1.2.3 Semi-finished meat products. They
are made with ground or minced meat or
pieces, with or without added fatty tissue,
by-products, extenders and permitted
additives, which have received a heat
treatment during processing, but need to be
cooked to consume them.
They include: croquettes, reconstituted
products ("restructured"), shaped products
(meat sticks, nuggets, other breaded
products) and semi-finished products.
1.2.4 Canned meat. They are meat or meat
products which are suitably treated with
heat in sealed containers, which may be
cans, knobs, artificial casings or bags of
flexible materials and which can be stored
for a long time.14
For the classification of the preserves we
adopted the proposal by Leistner and
others15,16 according to the intensity of
the heat treatment applied.
Canned foods can be made with meat and
/ or by-products, with or without the
addition of fatty tissues, extenders and
permitted additives. So-called tropical
preserves can Include pasta or other
products of vegetable origin such as
sauces, vegetables, cereal grains or
legumes.
1.2.4.1 Semi-preserved meat. They are
those that undergo a process of
pasteurization and that generally have a
durability of 6 months stored below 5 C.
1.2.4.2 Three-quarters preserved meat.
They are those that receive a treatment of
sterilization at temperatures between 106
and 112 C until reaching an F0 between
0,6 and 0,8.
They usually have a shelf life of 1 year
stored below 100C.
1.2.4.3 Whole meat preserves. They are
those that receive a sterilization treatment
characterized by F0 between 4.0 and 5.0.
They usually last up to 4 years at 25 C.
1.2.4.4 Tropical meat preserves. They are
those that receive a sterilization treatment
characterized by F0 between 12.0 and
15.0. They usually last 1 year at 40 C.
1.2.4.5 Self-stable meat products. They are
those that receive a moderate heat
treatment in combination with other
properly regulated conservation factors
such as water activity, pH, redox potential
and nitrite content or other preservatives.
These products are generally kept for up to
1 year without refrigeration.
They include: various types of sausages,
products in sauces, spreadable pasta and
others.
CONCLUSIONS
The classification described covers
products made by the Cuban meat industry
and various imported products, as well as
the development of new ones.
The classification can be useful both for
industrialists and for those entities
involved in the purchase, sale, distribution
and sanitary control of meat products in
the country.
Summary
The bibliography on the classification of
meat products is briefly reviewed, and a
primary grouping based on the products
receiving heat or not is suggested.
Products are subdivided withing these 2
large groups according to variants of the
process or a main characteritstic of its
technology. This classification comprises
all the Cuban meat products and other
imports.
Subject headings: MEAT PRODUCTS /
classification; MEAT PRODUCTS /
standards; FOOD QUALITY
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Madrid: Ediciones A. Vicente, 1991: 109-
10.
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BDS. Meat products. Classification. 1982:
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Microbiological criteria for stable
Standard Industrial Classification Manual.
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Office of Management and Budget,
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