In a sector such as the meat, the desire to differentiate themselves from the competition has led to much of the manufacturers to a continuous presentation of new formats and image changes, as well as the development of new products under the line 'without', referring to the absence of phosphates, chemical preservatives, fat and sodium. However, in the case of functional foods, the meat sector has hardly his first steps, contrary to what has happened in others, such as dairy them. In this context, and with all the releases on the scope of the 'no', some producers have joined the small group of which include functional in its portfolio of products. "Some manufacturers have introduced products that are looking for a proper balance of fat omega 6 / omega-3 in the linear, and they have also begun to develop products with addition of fat omega 3", argues Charles Cerrillo Fontecha, Manager of the company of the same name. And it is that recent scientific evidence have been 'on the table' the clear relationship between food and health, giving rise to the rapid development of functional foods. "Nutritionists insist on the need to improve the nutritional value of meat by combining with the intake of products from the sea, whose fat composition is higher in omega-3 content." "During more than a generation, it has warned consumers of the need to reduce the consumption of saturated fats in order to reduce the risk of developing coronary heart disease", explains Carlos Cerrillo. "Animal fat, main source of fat saturated in Western diets, it has been brought - continues - as the cause of health problems." Thus, generally tends to produce food with reduction of the original fat skimmed milk. At the same time, it has been growing among the population aware that not all unsaturated fats have the same effect on the health. In particular have spread the healthy properties of certain polyunsaturated fats such as the omega 6 and omega 3 ".

Seen, this La Rioja SMEs has just launched a new functional food: a sausage in string with high content of Omega 3 fatty acids. The new product arises from the project's r & d 'Incorporation of Omega 3 in the formulation of a traditional sausage (Cerriomega)', that the meat company has carried out together with the Centre of technology of the industry meat of La Rioja (CTIC) and the Centre for innovation and technology food of La Rioja (quotation). Research has made it possible to obtain a product enriched with Omega 3, with greater added value, and whose formulation allows you to include nutritional reference in the labelling. Also, the sensory characteristics are the same in relation to the traditional formulation. In this way, can be a sausage in string satisfies the demand of current consumer, with a ratio of fats more balanced by the addition of Omega 3 and retains, to 100 per cent, the taste of the traditional sausage.

For nine years, the meat manufacturer Cerrillo Fontecha is partner of the center of technology of the industry meat of La Rioja (CTIC). Throughout this period the relationship with the Center "has always been positive", according to the Manager of the SMEs, where the idea of the product that it wished to obtain through an r & d project. For its part, the binomial CTIC-event contributed their knowledge and experience in the sector to research. After a year of work of the technicians of both centres, together with the professionals of Cerrillo Fontecha, was obtained a sausage with a more balanced balance of fat, but with the same flavor as the traditional, as acknowledges the spokesperson for the company. Even so, in the conception of this new chorizo is should take into account that omega-3 fatty acids are capable of a rapid oxidation and other chemical changes due to contact with air, exposure to light, or treatments during processing. "Given that the interest of using this type of fat in food lies in its physico-chemical and physiological properties, it is essential to take into account the constraints posed by such processes of degradation and it becomes necessary to use methods of omega 3 fats preservation in parallel to its incorporation into the food", recognizes Charles Cerrillo. Before the question of how you get to develop a product with nutritional properties, without doing so vary their sensory characteristics, explains: "There are two types of organoleptic abnormalities associated with the process of elaboration of this type of functional foods." "The derivatives of the incorporation of an exogenous fat, and that it generally comes from the fish very characteristic odors, and those arising from the processes of oxidation and Rancidity, mentioned above". In the first case, by the studies carried out, two possible solutions were studied: the treatment of fats, to deodorize them and the search for other sources of fatty acids, which should not come from the fish. In the second case, studies were carried out in order to avoid the lipid oxidation subsequent to the preparation of the product to delete, in addition to the loss of the physiological properties of the appearance of undesirable aromas fat, according to detailed Carlos Cerrillo. Different tests are contrasted by panel of tasting, where discarded the developments they produce unpleasant tastes or odors to finally select the most suitable product.

The tests, involved both tasters of meat manufacturer as a taster of the own technological centres. The latter have a tasting room designed under the UNE 87004: 1979, 10 individual booths and a sensory panel consisting of 30 expert tasters, trained in the organoleptic characterization of various foods, which describe the products on the basis of its organoleptic characteristics of appearance, texture and taste in an objective way, selected and trained on the basis of the standards UNE and ISO. "This panel works, for three years, under this methodology, achieving good results of reproducibility and repeatability for multiple products." The basic training consists of initiation and training of judges in detection, recognition and management of basic flavors. "Specific training makes reference to the methodology with which to establish the smell-taste profile," says the Manager of meat Cerrillo. The results were "favourable", as significantly tasters as a whole has not detected any significant defect in the new product from the original. "In addition, over time, remained positive assessments of the most important attributes", says Carlos Cerrillo.

"Adapt to this new market isn't easy for small entrepreneurs due to the cost associated to innovate in traditional products and also to the legal difficulties to report on a functional ingredient labelling"

The majority of new releases with so-called functional ingredients of daily consumption, are products of vegetarian based or specific fats such as olive oil. The meat sector is minority in this respect, hence the importance of the project ' incorporation of Omega 3 in the formulation of a traditional sausage (Cerriomega'). "Adapt to this new market isn't easy for small business owners like us, because of the associated cost entailed in the search for innovation in traditional products (time, technicians, análisis… equipment), and also to the legal difficulties that exist at the time include claims in the labelling to inform consumers of the inclusion in the product of" "a functional ingredient", recognizes Charles Cerrillo. From the company, they hope that the release of the chorizo with Omega-3 "is the first of a range of sausages that combine tradition and nutritional balance".

Despite the good commercial prospects, it is not easy to demonstrate the virtues on the health of the food. Each year, the European authority on food security (EFSA) denied 95% of applications are the companies to ensure that your product found to be functional. The experience of meat Cerrillo is an example of this: "Should be distinguished between making a nutrition on a product claim (as in this case) and make a healthy argument." In the first case, both the EFSA and the applicable European legislation have established minimum values of the substance to be declared from which this statement can be included on the label. I.e., our new sausage can claim its high Omega 3 content that exceeds the limits set by the regulations. "In this case do not need a specific request to EFSA's". Regarding healthy claim, there are claims denied by the EFSA. This is the case of products on its label referring to the beneficial effect on the health of the consumer in a direct way, and not to the nutritional content of the product, as they point out from meat Cerrillo.

One of the successes of this project is the incorporation of unsaturated fatty acids to a meat matrix which takes treatment of drying and maturation, which could involve the future launch of products of this type on a larger scale. "One of Cerrillo Fontecha goals for the coming years is developing novel products, in line with the new sausage enriched with Omega 3". "In particular, already we think new developments that we differentiate in the embedded sector, through a range of high value-added products, but to maintain the essence of the traditional sausage". One of the expected results, once reached the objectives of the project, is the internationalization of the product. "For the future, we want to open ourselves to international markets with high added value products, such as which has been achieved in this latest project of r & d, omega 3 in sausages through the incorporation of fatty acids." In the Central European countries, products enriched in functional have a foothold in the market and it is expected that the response is positive by the consumer before a product that combines tradition and new technologies", argues the Manager of this family business based in Navarrete (La Rioja). Meat Cerrillo is dedicated to the elaboration of Rioja artisan sausage and breeding, butchering and distribution of livestock in the region. One of its lines of business is the production of Riojan homemade sausage. In recent years, he has sought the differentiation in the sector, betting on products such as sausage enriched with Omega 3, or the salami with walnuts, which released previously.