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| Deli Meats and Health |
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| A key part of Italian tradition, deli meats are high quality meat products that undergo several treatments during preparation to improve their organoleptic characteristics and extend their preservation. |
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deli meats, quality meat product
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| Originally prepared by farmers during the winter months to preserve fresh meat using salt, flavourings and spices and sometimes by exposing the meat to smoke, deli meats enrich our diet thanks to their variety in composition and taste. However, like other animal food, deli meats risk being penalised from a health point of view, even though common public opinion is that a balanced consumption of these products has no drawbacks if they are part of a balanced diet associated with an active lifestyle. |
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fresh meat, deli meat
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| The preservation of meat to prevent its deterioration was a need that human beings felt since they learnt that eliminating water from food reduces attacks by microbes and ensures that the nutritional characteristics last. The first preservation processes included exposure to sunrays or heat, whilst the treatment of products with salt, which dates back to ancient Egyptian times, is still in use today. The use of salt in deli meat production performs several functions: it extracts the water required for the life of microorganisms, it controls meat fermentation processes acting on specific enzymes and, together with temperature and humidity, determines the fermentation of desirable bacteria. |
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preservation of meat, deli meat production, meat fermentation
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| Today, deli meats are not only expected to be good and tasty, but also to be prepared with quality raw materials, guaranteed by control of the animals, according to precise standardised processing methods, in accordance with specific hygiene and legal provisions. |
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deli meats, processing meat
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| Furthermore, with the growing awareness of food’s effects on health from a toxicological and nutritional point of view, the composition of deli meats has changed profoundly over the last few decades. |
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| Certainly one of the key aspects is the reduction in fat content, which in the various deli meats ranges from 10 to 60% and is particularly high in Ham and Pancetta. This change means lower energy levels, i.e. the reduction of calorie intake associated with these products. Also from the qualitative point of view, the fat component has been modified thanks to the attention devoted to breeding, the feeding of cattle and production processes. Fewer fat deposits and increased muscle mass characterise pigs that grow on spacious farms, and lead to pork with less saturated fat and more unsaturated fat, both monounsaturated such as oleic acid (typically contained in olive oil), and polyunsaturated such as essential fatty acids, linoleic and alpha-linoleic (present in large amounts in corn and rye vegetable oils respectively), in addition to small amounts of very important fats for health and growth, namely, long-chain Omega 3, EPA and DHA. |
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deli meats, pork meat, saturated fat , unsaturated fat
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| This change has been accompanied by an increase in water content and, in some deli meats, in proteins. This aspect is particularly important from a nutritional point of view since proteins, which should account for 15% of the overall daily calorie intake, are indispensible for the development and optimum health of the body. Animal proteins have a higher biological value, i.e. an amino acid composition which is very similar to that of proteins synthesised by human beings. Recent studies have also reconsidered the role of food proteins, which are not only considered indispensible during the years of growth and in particular conditions (pregnancy, old age, etc.), but which seem to positively influence the different metabolic processes controlling appetite and weight control. |
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deli meats, animal proteins, food proteins
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| Deli meats are a valuable source of minerals, which are indispensible for growth and the maintenance of good health: iron, involved in a series of vital functions, which is particularly ‘bio-available’, i.e. ready to be absorbed and used by the body; zinc, selenium, chromium and copper. Furthermore, they provide high amounts of certain vitamins which are typically present in meat: 100g of dry-cured ham can account for more than 35% of the recommended daily intake of thiamine (or vitamin B1), 8% of riboflavin (or vitamin B2) and 18% of the requirement of vitamin PP (or niacin) in addition to vitamin B12. |
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deli meat, meat, vitamin B
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| In addition to all this, today’s deli meats are more digestible, partially due to the reduction in fat, but especially thanks to maturation through two distinctive processes, enzyme lysis and microbial fermentation, which determine their characteristic flavours and aromas and contribute to reducing digestion times. |
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deli meats, deli meats flavourings
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| Intolerance to lactose instead causes the inability of the intestine to metabolise lactose (the main sugar in milk) because of the lack of lactase, the enzyme that breaks this molecule down into simple sugars, glucose and galactose, that can be absorbed. Non-digested lactose is fermented by the intestinal bacterial flora causing meteorism and motility disorders. |
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intolerance to lactose
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| To conclude, deli meats which are highly appreciated for their taste, their variety and simplicity in preparation and consumption, are part of the Italian food tradition. Lowered fat content, high protein value, and increased digestibility make the consumption of deli meats recommended for all age groups in a balanced lifestyle that includes a diet that suits our lifestyle (which should be as active as possible) from the energy point of view and balanced in terms of macro- and micro-nutrient intake. |
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deli meats, consumption deli meats
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| By Franca Marangoni of the Nutrition Foundation of Italy |
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