TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to the field of food material processing. In particular, the invention relates to an, a process for the production of fat and protein products from animal sources, the products so obtained, and their incorporation in food products.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Animal fats have long been an important part of the human diet. However, the last few decades have seen a general trend toward the use of vegetable oils, and specifically poly- and mono-unsaturated fats, and a decline in the use of saturated animal fats in food preparation.

Another factor leading to this decline relates to customer convenience. Vegetable fats such as canola oil and sunflower oil have relatively low melting points. When they are used in a margarine style product, they tend to be softer and so can be readily scooped and/or spread. In contrast, saturated animal fats, including butter, having higher melting points tend to be hard when refrigerated: less easy to handle and spread (or mix).

This is turn leads animal fat products to be packaged as blocks in 'wraps' of paper, foil or similar. This allows the desired amount of the fat material to be sliced off as required. However, this type of packaging is not sturdy, and relies on the stiffness of the fat product itself to maintain its correct shape when packed. This arrangement can be subject to temperature abuse, to the extent that a temperature rise can weaken the structure of the packed blocks, leading to misshapen blocks, unsaleable product and possibly separation of the fats in the product, leading to separation of the product fractions, leakage and staining of the packs.

Nevertheless, there remains a desire to use saturated animal fats in food production, for various reasons, including the often superior flavour that it delivers, but also including the fact that certain essential fatty acids are required in the human diet and are often supplied via animal derived products such as beef. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an animal fat product that provides at least one of the improvements desired of such products compared with prior art animal fat products and/or vegetable fat products, that being superior flavour, improved packaging convenience and/or improved nutritional value.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a packaged, edible fat product derived from fatty tissue obtained during the commercial slaughter of wagyu beef cattle. Preferably the fat product is wagyu beef tallow.

Herein, reference to the term 'wagyu' will be understood by those skilled in the art to refer to those breeds of cattle, originating in Japan but now farmed in other regions, that are predisposed to intense marbling of fat in muscle meat, and which have a distinct profile of fatty acids and fat compounds in said fat. In particular, it includes those cattle that are full-bloods, half-bloods and quarter-bloods.

This product has some significant advantages over the prior art. Firstly, the meat derived from wagyu cattle is known to be particularly flavoursome, and this has been found to be true also of the refined fat obtained from wagyu cattle.

Secondly, fat derived from wagyu beef represents a unique blend of fatty acids that are advantageous in that wagyu beef tallow is relatively healthier for the consumer than other animal fats.

Thirdly, said fatty acid blend has a relatively low melting point compared with other animal tallow products, making the inventive product easier to spread and easier to scoop out of jar-style or tub-style containers. This allows this type of more sturdy packaging to be used (as opposed to the traditional paper-type wrapping) which greatly enhances the manufacturer's ability to successfully transport the tallow, particularly in warmer climes.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of obtaining a wagyu beef tallow product, said method including the steps of: obtaining fat-bearing material from the commercial slaughter of wagyu beef cattle; subjecting the fat-bearing material to thermal treatment to facilitate the separation of the fat from any protein-based material present; centrifugation of the separated fat material to remove moisture and other impurities; filtration, preferably double-filtration, of the centrifuged fat to remove other impurities; packaging of the filtered fat into lidded jars, tubs or the like.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a packaged edible fat material obtained from the method described above.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of obtaining a packaged edible beef protein product, said method including the steps of: obtaining the protein-based material separated from the fat material in the method of described above; grinding said protein-based material; optionally sieving said material to remove fine particles; packaging the protein-based material.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an edible protein material obtained from the method of described above.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a food product incorporating an edible fat product derived from fatty tissue obtained during the commercial slaughter of wagyu beef cattle. The advantageous properties of wagyu beef tallow, both nutritionally and in terms of flavour, provide a superior quality to common foods, such as the hamburger pattie. Use of the wagyu beef tallow in the formulation of a hamburger pattie lifts both the flavour profile and the nutritional value of what otherwise would be a low-value food.

In addition, the low melting point and soft texture of the included tallow provide other benefits, including an improvement in texture and 'chewability', improved digestibility and an enhanced transfer of meat flavour to the taste buds.

Now will be described, by way of particular, non-limiting examples, preferred embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Wagyu beef cattle, sometimes referred to as 'Kobe beef cattle, have long been prized in Japan for the eating qualities of the meat. The name refers to specific breeds of cattle that have a tendency to produce highly marbled fat distribution in their meat, as well as having higher levels of unsaturated fat in their body fat. In particular, it includes those cattle that are full-breeds, half-breeds and quarter- breeds.

Wagyu cattle have been highly valued in Japan, and increasingly in the rest of the world, for the superior flavour of their meat. Some research has also gone on into the potential health benefits of the distinct fat type produced by the Wagyu cattle. It appears that wagyu cattle's genetic predisposition yields a beef that contains a higher ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids than typical beef. The increased marbling is also thought to increase the ratio of monounsaturated fats to saturated fats relative to other beef varieties. Also, there appears to be a higher level of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in wagyu beef fat.

These characteristics have a number of implications. Nutritionally, it seems that wagyu beef fat is more beneficial for consumers due to its more advantageous profile of fatty acids and other lipids.

Physically, the lower overall level of saturation of the wagyu fat gives it a lower melting point. This means that the product will remain softer than other animal fats at room temperature, or at refrigeration temperatures.

Accordingly, the inventors have recognised that the isolation of the fatty material from slaughtered wagyu cattle is an inventive solution to the problems described in the prior art. Especially so, since the lower melting point of the wagyu fat allows far more convenient packaging of the wagyu beef tallow in jars or tubs. As the wagyu tallow remains relatively soft, it can easily be scooped or otherwise removed from such containers, whilst higher melting point animal fats would set hard and need to be heated, or scraped, to be removed from such containers.

Accordingly, the higher melting point animal fats typically use a flexible 'wrap' as a packaging which leads to the aforementioned problems of squashing, leakage and other problems. Allowing the use of sturdier packaging, such as jars or tubs, give significant advantages to the wagyu tallow supplier, as the losses in transport will tend to be lower, and the product will be more convenient for the consumer to use.

The method used by the inventors to produce the wagyu beef tallow is as follows.

Firstly, fat bearing tissue from slaughtered wagyu cattle is collected. Usually this will include protein (meat) and other tissue (e.g. collagen) which needs to be separated from the lipid (fat) material.

The first stage in separation is a thermal treatment (cooking) stage. This is carried out at a temperature range of between 80°C and 90°C in an open batch cooker for the appropriate time. However, other commercial rendering equipment may be used. This stage causes separation of the fat as it is heated and tends to float away from the protein, collagen and other material.

The separated fat is then skimmed off the top of the cooker and transferred to a centrifuge separator, which concentrates the fat by removing water to a target level of minimum % by mass. This can be carried out in a suitable separator, such as the AFPX 610, manufactured by Alfa Laval.

The centrifuged fat is then purified further by filtration. Preferably, a double- filtration is carried out using a micronic filter.

The purified tallow is then packed into suitable rigid or semi-rigid containers, such as glass jars or lidded plastic tubs for distribution and sale.

The wagyu beef tallow product obtained above is useful for inclusion in a number of different foods. These include confit, sous vide products among others.

A particular use for the wagyu beef tallow product is for inclusion in hamburger patties. Aside from the benefits of the superior flavour and nutritional benefits provided by the presence of the tallow, the softness and lower melting point of the tallow confers further benefits. These include an improvement in texture and 'chewability', improved digestibility and an enhanced transfer of meat flavour to the taste buds. The protein (meat) material that is removed from the fat during the cooking stage above can also be further processed into a useful protein extract product. Upon removal from the cooker, it may be ground, sieved or minced if required and then packed. This protein product is useful for providing a flavoursome protein level boost to a variety of prepared foods.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above described embodiments are not the only forms by which the invention can be put into practice. There are other alternative embodiments which, while different in some details, nevertheless fall within the scope of the invention.