Page 94 - AMEFT Journal 2021-4

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GEA Food Solutions: Locking flavors and ensuring longer shelf life
GEA Food Solutions, one of the world’s largest systems suppliers for the food, beverage and pharmaceu- tical sectors, is injecting brine into meat products such as cured bacon. This is crucial for consistency of distribution, quality and yields for food manufactur- ers. Now the seafood industry can also take advantage of this precise technique for locking in flavor and ensuring a lon- ger shelf life for seafood products.
There are multiple reasons for in- jecting fish with brine, most important is the need to ensure product safety especially for ready-to-eat products. Brines include salts and additives that help to inhibit bacterial growth, such as listeria, and to extend the product’s shelf life and flavor to make sure that it arrives with the consumer in perfect condition. If fish is dried & smoked, it will lose weight in the process. Adding brine before smoking ensures that the product remains succulent, with less protein loss, while it absorbs the char-
94 AMEFT 4 2021
Leading technology provider GEA Food Solutions has launched automated injection systems suitable for the hygienic handling of a variety of fish, including cod fillets, salmon and mackerel. Configuration of the needle pattern can be adapted according to species, whether injecting brine, marinating or flavoring products.
acteristic smoked flavors. GEA’s 2mm injection concepts such as the Multi- Jector introduce brine in a high-den- sity injection pattern, combined with the right injection pressure, avoiding injection points becoming saturated which can cause the brine to leak out. A higher density of needles allows less brine per needle to be injected at a lower pressure. It also means reduced downtime spent cleaning the equip- ment and surrounding environment.
Senior Product Sales Manager for GEA, Bjarne Lyngø, explains that a tight needle pattern, in combination with im- mediate post-injection handling such as shaking or vibration, helps close needle marks while the brine is more easily ab- sorbed by the fish, improving the flavor. “On a MultiJector for example there are 792 very fine hypodermic needles 2mm in diameter. With lower pump pressure the marks are not visible, and you have no separation in the meat. After injection we use high frequency
(Source: GEA Food Solutions)
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