MSP Issue 28

case study
or for pork bratwurst, the protein
content must be at least 10%.
How do the producers make
sausages cheaper and what
do they use to replace meat
in them?
– Nobody replaces meat for no
reason. The acceptable options
are specified in the technical
specifications of some sausage
types and in the technology
guidelines. For example, it is
allowed to replace up to 2% of meat
with starch or wheat flour in some
sausages. This allowance may be
seen in “Molochnaya” or “Govyazhya”
bratwurst. Moreover, it is allowed to
replace the trimmed single pork with
greasy pork. It is also allowed to add
protein stabilizers and to replace
meat with products from the relevant
category with manufacturing defects,
e.g. damaged sausage links.
By studying the allowances
specified in technical specifications
or technology guidelines, the
technologists may try to use
them all and gain an economic
benefit, if the products meet the
requirements for protein, fat and
moisture content. However, the
buyers may feel that the product
tastes differently or has a different
texture, and refuse to buy it.
In fact, the allowances are intended
to avoid manufacturing defects and
to compensate the fluctuations in
the properties of raw meat.
The producers may also make
sausages cheaper by switching to
cheaper meat ingredients in the
market. For example, the plant may
switch from chilled domestic meat to
frozen foreign meat, if it is allowed
by the regulations for the relevant
production.
They can also switch from eggs to
melange, from whole to powdered
milk. However, there’s a good
proverb: “Cheapest is the dearest.”
The powdered milk suppliers, in turn,
may sell milk with replacements.
Regarding the counterfeit products,
there are isolated cases that put the
whole sector in a bad light. Chasing
excessive profits, the plants replace
beef or pork with cheaper meat, e.g.
minced poultry. Luckily, our poultry
industry is on the rise, and there are
more than enough offers. Today,
it’s more cost-effective to produce
genuine cheap sausages than
counterfeit products.
What should be the price of
“meat” sausages?
– Let’s take the popular
“Doctorskaya” sausage for example,
which is considered to be “meat”
sausage. It may contain 68–70% of
pork, 25–30% of beef plus 3% of eggs
and 2% of milk. Meat processing
plants, of course, don’t buy meat at
market prices. There are production
costs and distribution margins. The
seasonality, electricity and petrol
prices have a significant influence on
sausages.
In fact, I think that “Doctorskaya”
sausage can be used as an economic
index and reported together with the
exchange rates and the Dow Jones
index because it properly describes
the economic situation in the country
and agriculture.
I think that in summer and autumn,
the price of “Doctorskaya” sausage
produced as per All Union State
Standard and presented on the
shelves of the meat processing
plant stores in Moscow should be
400–450 rubles, while in winter and
spring – 500–550 rubles. In the
southern regions with developed
pig farming, this type of sausage
should be cheaper, of course,
because the raw meat logistics is
cheaper and the rent of commercial
premises is lower. However, as
you probably know, prices are
influenced by many factors. After
all, there is no point in reducing the
prices lower than the market price
for the producers.
How protected are the
consumers against
unethical producers?
– The consumers are well protected.
They are protected by the Technical
Regulations, standards. Each
ingredient in meat products has
Certificates of Conformity or
Marketing Authorization. Many
plants started working voluntarily
in “Mercury” system developed for
electronic certification of freights
under the supervision of the National
Veterinary Inspection, monitoring of
their transactions and transportation
in the territory of the Customs Union.
This system ensures complete
traceability of raw meat “from the
field to the counter.”
Of course, you can’t be 100%
protected against unethical
producers. In these cases, the work
of supervisory state agencies is
very important, and they act quite
effectively. To be honest, it’s not
cost-effective to produce counterfeit
products today because there is a
regulatory documentation available
for each price decision which allows
the producers to make sausages
using cheap mechanically deboned
poultry and animal collagen protein,
stabilized by thickening and gelling
agents. Everything is written on the
label – just read it.
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Source: proved.rf
36 | MSP Magazine • October/November 2017