Analysis of meat & sausage products
Retailers and consumers expect the highest level of safety and quality from meat products. Strict legal regulations present the meat processing industry with enormous challenges on a daily basis.
The meat industry is not only subject to strict monitoring by food authorities, there are also several challenges that producers and distributors have to face. For these reasons, it is even more important to have experienced experts who know the legal framework as well as fully equipped analytical laboratories for routine testing at hand to support you in bringing safe meat and sausage products to the market.
In addition to neutral classification and weighing as well as certification by Tentacontrol GmbH, the accredited laboratories of the Tentamus Group offer you all tests relevant to food safety of meat and sausage products quickly and competently.
This includes the following analyses of raw materials and products:
- Microbiological testing
- Sensory testing
- Analysis for contaminants
- Analysis for veterinary drug residues
- Test for allergens, and chemical
- Chemical complete and nutritional analysi
Terminology: Meat, sausages & molded meat
- The generic term "meat" refers to all parts of slaughtered or hunted warm-blooded animals that have been tested in accordance with hygiene regulations and are suitable for human consumption.
- Sausages are products containing meat and other ingredients (possibly also additives).
- Molded meat is further distinguished. It is produced from meat (raw material), but with the use of enzymes. Therefore, it must be labeled accordingly when processed into molded meat products (such as formed meat ham). The molded meat raw material can consist of a wide variety of meat batches / pieces which, in addition to enzymatic treatment, are also combined into larger units by mechanical pre-treatment to release muscle protein or by heat or freezing treatment.
Challenges for producers and distributors of meat & meat products
Meat and meat products are among the most perishable foods. Accordingly, producers and distributors must follow strict hygiene and labeling requirements.
Nutrition, husbandry, slaughter & storage
Nutrition, husbandry and slaughtering of animals have an impact on meat quality. Stressed animals may show meat defects after slaughter (e.g. PSE meat in pigs or DFD meat in cattle). Administration of veterinary drugs can also be detected in the meat depending on the amount used.
Appropriate husbandry practices, healthy feeding, and less stress to the animals can improve meat characteristics, especially water retention.
After slaughter and further processing into meat products, hygienic and microbiological quality must also be ensured.
Correct labeling
For those placing meat products on the market, it is important to ensure that the meat in the packaging is that which is declared on it.
Pork, goat, sheep and poultry meat are also subject to mandatory indication of origin in accordance with the FIC and Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 1337/2013. Accordingly, producers must be able to prove the correct origin (incl. rearing of the animals) and declare it on the packaging.
Special regulations apply to beef labeling due to the occurrence of BSE in 2000. Numerous details are mandatory, depending on the age of the cattle.
Updates in food regulations and new conditions can pose major challenges to producers and retailers of meat and sausage products.
Necessary tests for the analysis meat & sausage products
Microbiological testing
Microbiological testing of meat and sausage products in particular plays an important role in the safety of these products - it is sometimes even the decisive criterion.
Microorganisms are sometimes specifically used in the production process, for example to control taste, color or shelf life.
More relevant, however, are pathogenic or spoilage-promoting germs.
- Contamination with pathogenic germs such as Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes or EHEC have caused several recalls in the past and can cause serious illness in consumers.
- Lactic acid bacteria, molds and yeasts drive spoilage, shortening shelf life. This is especially true of fresh meat, cooked and boiled sausages, or cooked cured products.
Molecular biological analysis
Molecular biological criteria also play a role in meat products. Due to increasing numbers of people with allergies or food intolerances, it is becoming more and more important for producers and distributors to test their products for possible allergens. This is done in the laboratory using ELISA or PCR methods.
Product adulteration can also be detected with animal species detection.
To ensure that your meat or sausage products are microbiologically safe, the accredited laboratories of the Tentamus Group offer the following tests in the field of microbiology and molecular biology:
- Allergens
- Challenge Test
- GMO screening
- Pathogenic Microorganisms
- Food safety & process hygiene criteria according to VO 2073/2005
- Drinking water testing
- Animal species detection
- Environmental testing
- Microorganisms indicating spoilage & hygiene deficiencies
Chemical analysis
In addition to routine chemical-physical tests, such as contents of water, fat, connective tissue protein and meat protein as well as nutritional values (Big 4, Big 8 and Big 7) and additives, meat and sausage products must be examined for possible contaminants.
Contaminants such as heavy metals, dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can enter the animals' diet via the environment. Thus, residues of these contaminants may be present in the final product.
Smoking meat products can also produce polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which result from incomplete combustion processes.
The use of antibiotics in farm animals can lead to antibiotic residues in the subsequent meat product. EU Regulation No. 37/2010 therefore regulates the maximum permissible levels of antibiotic residues in food of animal origin.
Residues can be detected by LC-MS/MS. The chemical laboratories of the Tentamus Group offer the following analyses for the test of meat and sausage products:
- Full chemical analysis
- Mineral oils (MOSH / MOAH)
- Nutritional analysis
- Residues and contaminants
- Veterinary drugs
- Plant protection products
- Dioxin and dioxin-like PCBs
- Additives
- Nitrite curing salt
- Phosphates and P-number
- Dyestuffs
Origin verification
Meat and sausage products are among the foodstuffs that are frequently affected by adulteration or false claims of origin. In order to prove the correct origin and authenticity of the products, isotope analyses are carried out by IR-MS, LC-MS/MS, NGS, ICP-MS and LC-IRMS.
The origin and authenticity of meat and sausage products significantly influence the decision of the consumer. Therefore, it is even more important to ensure these conditions by means of laboratory analyses.
Sensory testing
The quality of meat and sausage products can also be measured by sensory testing. This involves assessing freshness and texture. In the case of sensory impairment, consumers equate this with spoilage.
In addition to sensory testing, the Tentamus Group offers boar odor detection.
Boar odor is classified as an unpleasant taste and odor deviation in the meat of uncastrated male pigs. In particular, urine- or fecal-like odor and taste can be detected during the preparation or heating of the meat. According to the guiding principles for meat and meat products, "boar meat with odor deviations is not customary for sale." To avoid this, the carcasses can already be subjected to sensory testing.
Quality control
The total package of ensuring the quality of meat and sausage products includes inspections and audits of slaughterhouses.
The companies of the Tentamus Group offer the following services:
- Neutral classification and weighing of slaughter cattle
- Control of the cutting process
- Marking of carcasses
- Preparation of analog protocols
- Certification of national and international quality standards
- QS - Quality & Safety
- ITW - Initiative Animal Welfare
- QZBW - Quality Mark Baden-Württemberg
- VOLG - Without Genetic Engineering
- Orgainvent
- IFS Food
- Meisterhaft
Our teams have many years of experience in the field of quality control and are happy to support you in the quality management of your meat and sausage products.
Sample shipment
of meat & sausage products _
You can send us your samples of meat or sausages with a shipping company of your choice or bring them personally to a laboratory near you. Please make sure that your samples are sufficiently cooled when they arrive at our laboratory. We will be happy to provide you with further information on this.
Within Germany we also pick up your samples. Please make an appointment with our logistics team.
Relevant legal bases & directives
- Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 (Food Information Regulation , FIC)
- Regulation (EC) No. 2073/2005 (microbiological criteria for food)
- Regulation (EC) No. 1333/2008 (additive regulation)
- Guidelines for meat and meat products
Get in touch with our team:
food@tentamus.com
+49 30 206 038 230
Overview of
laboratories offering analysis of meat or sausage products
The following laboratories from the Tentamus Group offer analyses of meat & sausage products:
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