Vitiva aims VivOx at ready-meal rancidity

The Slovenian ingredients supplier has previously communicated the benefits of Vivox for preserving merguez and chipolata sausages, and also says its Synerox 4 ingredient can extend the shelf-life of meat.

Now, however, it is targeting the convenience meal sector, after new findings indicated the oil-soluble, water-dispersible formula “helps increase shelf-life and reduced warmed over flavour, while keeping important organoleptic characteristics of the product”.​

Manufacturers of convenience products are increasingly seeking out natural ingredients for their products, and it is this trend that Vitiva is looking to tap. For instance, UK retailer Asda pledges to have ‘no nasties’ in its own brand products, including artificial colours, sweeteners and preservatives in this bracket.

The company has not published details of the tests it conducted to reach this conclusion, but it described the problem posed by meat-based products:

Such products tend thermal processing, which has an effect on fats present in the food, and makes them more vulnerable to oxidation. The problem is exacerbated when foods are fried or battered, Vitiva says, since they absorb even more oil in the process.

Meanwhile, the cooling, freezing, transportation and storage processes can increase exposure to light and oxygen, conditions that promote oxidation.

Vitiva is claiming the shelf-life of ready-meals can be naturally increased by between two and five times, compared with samples that used traditional ingredients, and that the flavour and taste profile was not affected.

In its earlier communication on sausages, Vitiva said merguez and chipolatas have a high fat content, which makes them particularly susceptible to oxidation. The oxidation process can bring about changes in taste and smell, particularly rancidity.

Typical ingredients used to prevent these changes in sausages are citric and ascorbic acid.