Ground Meat and Ground Meat Products: Microbiological Safety, Raw Material and Process Engineering

Dear Colleagues,

Ground beef is a very popular product in the meat industry, in both food service and retail. It is a very sensitive product in terms of shelf life. In recent years, microbiological safety of ground beef products using various components making these products safer has been an important research focus. Other research topics include the effects of cooking state (frozen vs. thawed), final temperature, and cooling after cooking on the color of ground beef patties. Consumer interest in ground meat products, especially hamburgers, remains high because they are easy to prepare. Mechanical mincing of meat cells leads to cell disintegration and increased cooking loss during heating. In addition, process contaminants such as heterocyclic amines are formed during heat treatment of beef patties. Their formation and methods to prevent them should be investigated in further studies. The objective of this Special Issue is to provide an overview of microbiological safety, raw material, formation of process contaminates, and process technologies with different production methods, and different final cooking methods of meat patties. In addition, this Special Issue will highlight trends and current strategies to improve the sensory and nutritional quality and safety of these minced meat products.

Prof. Dr. Monika Gibis
Guest Editor

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