Current Innovations in Meat Fermentation with a View to Producing More Sustainable, Healthier and Safer Products

The ever-increasing global population and the requirement for sustainably produced food are fundamentally linked. Consequently, limited global resources must be utilised with maximum efficiency, thereby, minimising associated waste. Natural preservation techniques can assist greatly in food source sustainability. A renewed interest in the use and application of traditional preservation processes like smoking, fermentation, salting etc. is taking place but couched now from the perspective of sustainability and mini-mising the carbon footprint associated with modern day food manufacturing processes. Traditionally, processes like fermentation, smoking and use of natural microbial agents have been combined in the production of long-lasting fermented meat products without requirement for cooking, chilling, freezing etc. This review reports on fermented meat production but highlights the; improved health-related aspects associated with their production and consumption, fermentation process enhancement through improve-ment in starter culture knowledge and application and sustainable developments in final product formulation and associated processing measures.