SAFEMAT24
SAFEMEAT24 is a pioneering project focused on food safety through the use of natural additives in cooked meat products. This initiative addresses one of the biggest challenges in the food industry: ensuring the stability and safety of cooked meat products stored at room temperature. The project aims to eliminate the need for refrigeration by integrating natural additives that combine technological innovation and sustainability.
CHEMITAL is developing this R&D project in collaboration with the AINIA research center. The initiative is scheduled to last 24 months, divided into two technical and economic milestones over the 2024–2026 period, with a budget of €595,020, co-financed by CDTI Innovación with EU FEDER funds.
Technical Data Sheet
- Program call: National individual R&D project (CDTI Innovación)
- Reference/Acronym: IDI-20240682 / SAFEMEAT24
- Project Title: “New natural antimicrobials in cooked meat products stored at room temperature”
- Objective: To improve food safety with natural additives in cooked meat products. This initiative addresses one of the biggest challenges in the food industry: the stability and safety of cooked meat products stored at room temperature. The project aims to eliminate the need for refrigeration through natural additives that combine technological innovation and sustainability.
- Collaborating Entities: AINIA
- Total Budget: €595,020
- FEDER Cofinancing: €394,855.27
- Execution Period: 2024–2026
INBAC-ADL
Within the Innovation Support Program for Small and Medium Enterprises (InnoEmpresa) 2007-2013, Chemital, together with the Technological Center AINIA, developed a supra-regional project entitled “Technical assistance for the development of new food products”.
The objective pursued with the execution of this project was to technically advice agri-food companies for the development of new products with greater added value, by improving their nutritional and organoleptic properties, while guaranteeing microbiological safety and stability during the commercial life of the product, and the acceptance of the product by its potential consumers. Therefore, Chemital requested a Challenge test study in which the inhibitory effect of the preservative INBAC-ADL on Listeria monocytogenes strains in the meat matrix was confirmed, obtaining results that show the total inhibition capacity on the population of this pathogen at a low concentration in samples incubated at 5ºC. For this determination, different concentrations were studied under controlled environmental conditions and for which, a predictive microbiology model was obtained.
EXTRACTO DE ESPECIAS 65/S
Within the Innovation Support Program for Small and Medium Enterprises (InnoEmpresa) 2007-2013 Chemital, together with the Technological Center AINIA, developed a supra-regional project entitled “Technological improvement plan for the development of new products in the agri-food sector”.
The objective pursued with the execution of this project was to technically advice agri-food companies for the development of new products with greater added value, by improving their nutritional and organoleptic properties, while guaranteeing microbiological safety and stability during the commercial life of the product, and the acceptance of the product by its potential consumers. For this reason, Chemital carried out a Challenge test study in which it was determined that the preservative Extracto de Especias 65/S has an effective inhibitory effect against the development of lactic acid bacteria (Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Lactobacillus brevis) and Listeria monocytogenes, since it slows down the growth rate, effect being greater the higher the concentration of the additive in the product.
INBAC ACN/NA
Another of the R&D projects, under the acronym “BIO-PRED15” in 2015, Chemital addressed the need to develop food additives capable of inhibiting the growth of lactic acid bacteria as well as the development of Listeria monocytogenes, which allows an increase in the shelf life of the product, while at the same time guaranteeing its quality and microbiological safety. The project entitled “Development of biopreservatives for the control of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms in meat products through predictive strategies”was developed in collaboration with the Technological Center AINIA, all under the financial aid of the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI).
The preservative INBAC ACN/NA, developed to be applied on cooked meat products, one of the foods where there is a greater demand for solutions to the problem of microbiological development, demonstrated its effectiveness through the study and its subsequent validation where primary models were obtained and secondary that were integrated to develop the tertiary model which allows the estimation of the useful life of the products obtained at different application doses. Using software that is easy to interact with the user, the initial microbial concentration, product storage temperature and INBAC-ACN/NA concentration can be established. The evolution of the result can also be expressed according to the chosen parameter.
BIOPROTECT
Completed the project titled “Development and evaluation of bioprotective additives as substitutes for the use of nitrites and nitrates in meat products using predictive models,” which addressed the market need to offer consumers healthier meat products while ensuring their food safety.
To achieve this, the effectiveness of a new preservative developed by Chemital was demonstrated against Clostridium botulinum, validated in collaboration with the Department of Biotechnology and the Microbiology and Molecular Biology Laboratory at the AINIA technology center, which belongs to the Spanish Federation of Technology Centers (FEDIT), the Network of Technological Institutes of the Valencian Community (REDIT), and the European Food Institutes (EFI).
This initiative was funded by the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) of the Ministry of Science and Innovation.
