German process delivers the almost fat-free sausage

Munich, Germany - German consumers get through about 1.5 million tonnes of sausages and related meat products every year. Two thirds of this is sold as either hot- or cold-boiled sausages, which usually contain a high proportion of fat to ensure that they have the right consistency and taste. Varieties sold until now as low-fat sausage may contain as much as 20% fat.

To tackle the issue, a butcher from Mindelheim and the Fraunhofer Institute claim to have developed a process for manufacturing tasty sausage varieties containing only two to three percent of fat. The almost fat-free sausages are now making their way onto the refrigerated shelves of German shops.

Master butcher Josef Pointner hit on the idea of making low-fat sausage. “Low-fat products for varieties such as ham sausage, Leberkäse (a German meat loaf specialty) or salami or Weisswurst (Bavarian veal sausage) have never been available until now. But I was only partially successful in producing these sausage varieties,” he said.

WIth help from Fraunhofer scientists, Pointer developed a process to replace the fat in the sausage by proteins, which are closely cross-linked and structured to bind in as much water as possible. The process involves combining the ingredients -lean meat, spices and ice - in a specially designed bowl that revolves around a set of sharp rotating knives.  

"In conventional cutters, the knives can reach peak temperatures of up to 75 degrees Celsius. This causes denaturation of the proteins, which then form unwanted small lumps in the sausage-meat and partly lose their ability to bind water,” explains Dr. Peter Eisner of the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV. 

A series of tests were carried out at the Institute’s own sausage plant to achieve the ideal fat content and the right consistency of the sausage-meat. “The secret is to monitor the temperature and to keep on cooling the cutter knives and the sausage-meat. Perfect timing is the crucial factor here: Just one moment too late, and the knives will get hot,” said Eisner.

Fraunhofer and Pointner hold the patent for this manufacturing process and the “VielLeicht” low-fat sausage was launched in southern Germany in the middle of January.