Celery powder

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Celery powder is a dried, ground concentrate prepared from fresh celery that is used as a seasoning and as a food preservative in organic meat products. Several commercial preparations exist, and it can also be made using a food dehydrator. Some celery powders are prepared from celery juice. [1]

Contents

Meat curative

Celery powder contains a significant amount of naturally occurring nitrate and is often treated with bacterial cultures to produce nitrite. [1] [2] [3] [4] In the United States, treated celery powder is sometimes used as a meat curing agent in organic meat products, which is allowed per USDA regulations because the nitrate/nitrite is naturally occurring. [2] USDA regulations do not allow artificially added nitrate or nitrite to be used directly in organic food products. [2] Meats cured with celery powder include hot dogs and bacon. [5] [6] Celery powder prepared from celery juice has been shown to have a nitrate content of approximately 2.75%. [1]

See also

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3
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2
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Celery salt Salt seasoned with celery seeds

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Onion powder

Onion powder is dehydrated, ground onion that is commonly used as a seasoning. It is a common ingredient in seasoned salt and spice mixes, such as beau monde seasoning. Some varieties are prepared using toasted onion. White, yellow and red onions may be used. Onion powder is a commercially prepared food product that has several culinary uses. Onion powder can also be homemade.

Curing salt

Curing salt is used in meat processing to generate a pinkish shade and to extend shelf life. It is both a color agent and a means to facilitate food preservation as it prevents or slows spoilage by bacteria or fungus. Curing salts are generally a mixture of sodium chloride and sodium nitrite, and are used for pickling meats as part of the process to make sausage or cured meat such as ham, bacon, pastrami, corned beef, etc. Though it has been suggested that the reason for using nitrite-containing curing salt is to prevent botulism, a 2018 study by the British Meat Producers Association determined that legally permitted levels of nitrite have no effect on the growth of the Clostridium botulinum bacteria that causes botulism, in line with the UK’s Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food opinion that nitrites are not required to prevent C. botulinum growth and extend shelf life..

Curing (food preservation) Food preservation and flavouring processes based on drawing moisture out of the food by osmosis

Curing is any of various food preservation and flavoring processes of foods such as meat, fish and vegetables, by the addition of salt, with the aim of drawing moisture out of the food by the process of osmosis. Because curing increases the solute concentration in the food and hence decreases its water potential, the food becomes inhospitable for the microbe growth that causes food spoilage. Curing can be traced back to antiquity, and was the primary method of preserving meat and fish until the late-19th century. Dehydration was the earliest form of food curing. Many curing processes also involve smoking, spicing, cooking, or the addition of combinations of sugar, nitrate, and nitrite.

Cured fish Fish subjected to fermentation, pickling or smoking

Cured fish is fish which has been cured by subjecting it to fermentation, pickling, smoking, or some combination of these before it is eaten. These food preservation processes can include adding salt, nitrates, nitrite or sugar, can involve smoking and flavoring the fish, and may include cooking it. The earliest form of curing fish was dehydration. Other methods, such as smoking fish or salt-curing also go back for thousands of years. The term "cure" is derived from the Latin curare, meaning to take care of. It was first recorded in reference to fish in 1743.

A low sodium diet is a diet that includes no more than 1,500 to 2,400 mg of sodium per day.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tarté, Rodrigo (2009-02-21). Ingredients in Meat Products: Properties, Functionality and Applications. pp. 398–399. ISBN   9780387713274.
  2. 1 2 3 Doyle, Michael P.; Sperber, William H. (2009-09-23). Compendium of the Microbiological Spoilage of Foods and Beverages. p. 78. ISBN   9781441908261.
  3. Encyclopedia of Meat Sciences: 3-volume set. 2014-07-22. p. 451. ISBN   9780123847348.
  4. Schwarcz, Joe (20 March 2017). "Is celery juice a viable alternative to nitrites in cured meats?". Office for Science and Society. McGill University. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  5. Neuman, William (July 1, 2011). "What's Inside the Bun?". The New York Times . Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  6. Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD. "The Truth About Bacon". Fox News Magazine. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)