Safe and cost-effective production of dry-cured meat with reduced mould growth

Mould contamination on dry-cured meat is periodically a significant quality problem leading to a major economic impact for the producers due to cleaning and loss of products. In addition the mould growth may represent a health risk for the staff due to th e allergenic potential of the moulds and last but not least, the mould growth on the dry-cured meat may represent a health risk for the consumer. A guesstimate of the annual losses from efforts and cassation caused by deep moulding in cured meat will be up to 10% of the turnover, depending upon different producers. If the costs related to surface moulding leading to deep moulding of cured meat could be dimidiated, the results would be a more stable product, the work on the slicing lines would be more e ffective, and the consumers would receive a product of more uniform quality. If the moulding-problem could be controlled, the business sector could: * implement new techniques of production, resulting in products with a lower salt-content which means a quality more like the imported products * produce products which are on the European market, but not yet in Norway. An expanded spectrum of products will provide the producers a broader fundament for business Our idea is to enable increased knowledge of the moulds growing on the dry-cured meat, the moulds in the raw material and in the production facilities. This will be done in order to find the contamination sources and make cost-effective preventive measures. In order to comply with the new regulatio n about hygiene in foodstuff (852/2004) and the consumers demand for safe food, we will increase the understanding of the health risk of mould growth on dry-cured meat and investigate the production of mycotoxins and antibiotics on the product.