| abstract |
An edible muscle food product is provided as a mixture of two essential components. One essential component is the pigment responsible for the color of cooked cured meats which has been prepared from red blood cells. The process for preparing this pigment includes reacting bovine or hog red blood cells with a nitrosating agent and a reductant, at elevated temperatures, to provide powdered cooked cured-meat pigment. Then the cooked cured-meat pigment is encapsulated within a treating mixture consisting of: a carbohydrate-based wall material; a binding agent; and an additional agent selected from a reducing agent, a sequestrant or mixtures thereof. The food product includes the cooked cured-meat pigment and a proteinaceous material, e.g., an emulsion-type meat product, an emulsion-type fish mince product, or an emulsion-type surimi-based product. When the pigment in the encapsulated form is added to the proteinaceous materials prior to cooking the typical color of a nitrite-cured product is reproduced. |