Organic alternatives to conventional celery powder as a meat curing agent
02 Feb 2021
This project addresses the critical need of stakeholders to ensure an adequate and stable supply of organic curing powder for the organic cured meat industry.
Celery powder has been used since the inception of the USDA NOP as a “curing” agent in organic processed meat products. During this time, the industry has grown to an estimated $ 150M. In 2019, all celery powder available to organic meat processors is conventionally grown and processed; A change in regulation requires that all dust be derived from organic sources, which has a significant impact on the entire organic sausage industry.To address this critical problem, the project addresses 4 objectives: 1- Evaluation of fertility, Genetics and Environment of Nitrogen (N) on Nitrate Levels in Organic Celery, Swiss Chard and Beets.
2- Sensory and quality evaluation of cured meat products using organic vegetable powder
3 – Economic and market evaluation of organic celery powder and cured meat products
4- Expansion of results.
The long-term goal is to enhance the ability of farmers and processors to profitably produce high-quality organic processed meat products, while bringing economic, agronomic and environmental benefits to organic crop rotations.
This project is funded by a grant from the USDA.AQ Organic Research and Extension Initiative