BASED COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING SUPER-HYDRATED FIBERS AND METHODS FOR PRODUCING SAME

TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure generally relates to foodstuffs with reduced caloric content.

More specifically, this disclosure pertains to methods and compositions for producing meat-based or meat-substitute-based foodstuffs with reduced caloric content.

BACKGROUND Obesity is a worldwide problem with recent estimates suggesting that roughly 500 million adults are obese, i.e., having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher (Finucane et al., 2011, National, regional, and global trends in body- mass index since 1980: systematic analysis of health examination surveys and epidemiological studies with 960 country-years and 9.1 million participants. Lancet 377:557-67). The same report suggests that nearly 1.5 billion adults are overweight/obese, i.e., having a BMI of 25 of higher. About 69% of North American adults (roughly 2 in 3) are overweight/obese and about 1 out of 3 (39%) are considered obese with BMIs over 30.

Although the occurrence and severity of obesity may be affected by genetic, behavioral and hormonal influences on body weight, it is generally accepted that a regular in-take of more calories than are burned through exercise and normal daily activities is a primary cause of obesity. In short, combining a high-calorie diet with a sedentary lifestyle results in the storage of excess calories as fat. Thus, problems with obesity are exacerbated by over-consumption of high- calorie foods and beverages.

One strategy for combating and reducing obesity focuses on reducing caloric intake by incorporating reduced-calorie foods and/or beverages into diets. A related strategy involves reducing caloric uptake by incorporating foodstuffs with reduced caloric availability.

Considerable efforts have been placed on the development and marketing of palatable plant-protein-based meat substitute products. However, it has become apparent that products such as burgers made with plant-based meat substitutes may contain up to 25% more calories that burgers made with 90% lean ground beef.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to methods for producing super-hydrated dietary fiber ingredient components for incorporation into meat-based foodstuffs and substitute-meat-based foodstuffs prior to baking or cooking, whereby the resulting baked or cooked meat foodstuffs and/or plant- protein-based meat-substitute foodstuffs are characterized by one or more of reduced caloric availability, reduced carbohydrate availability, reduced lipid contents, reduced protein contents, increased fiber contents, and increased postbaking or post-cooking moisture contents.

Some aspects relate to methods for producing calorie-reduced, high-fiber- containing baked or cooked meat-based foodstuffs or plant protein-based meat- substitute foodstuffs whereinto a super-hydrated dietary fiber component of the type disclosed herein, has been incorporated into the foodstuffs during preparation prior to baking or cooking.

According to an embodiment disclosed herein, an example of the methods disclosed herein comprises: (i) selection of a dietary fiber component that is suitable for human consumption, (ii) hydrating the fiber component by mixing together a selected quantity of the fiber component and a selected volume of water to form a paste, (iii) applying a selected negative pressure to the hydrated fiber component for a selected period of time resulting in a thick paste consistency, (iv) removing the thick paste from the vacuum packaging and adding an additional selected volume of water to bring the consistency back to a thick slurry thereby producing a super- hydrated dietary fiber ingredient component. According to an aspect, an example of a calorie-reduced high-fiber-containing meat-based foodstuff or high-fiber-containing plant-protein-based meat-substitute foodstuff may be produced by (v) adding a selected quantity of the super-hydrated fiber ingredient component to a selected foodstuff composition, (vi) completion of preparation of the super-hydrated fiber- amended meat foodstuff composition, and (vii) baking or cooking the prepared super-hydrated fiber-amended meat foodstuff composition. Alternatively, after step (vi) is completed, the super-hydrated fiber-amended meat foodstuff can be extruded and formed into a ground meat substitute or patty or sausage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE: The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the following drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a chart illustrating the organoleptic scoring of meat compositions comprising super-hydrated dietary fiber ingredient components according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to methods for super-hydration of edible non-digestible dietary fiber components and super- hydrated non-digestible dietary fiber components produced by the methods disclosed herein, use of the super-hydrated non-digestible dietary fiber components as recipe ingredients for the preparation of protein-based meat foodstuffs, wherein the protein-based meat foodstuffs have reduced caloric availability relative to comparable protein-based meat foodstuffs that are prepared without any of the super-hydrated non-digestible dietary fiber components disclosed herein, and to protein-based meat-substitute foodstuffs prepared with the super-hydrated non-digestible dietary fiber components disclosed herein.

As used herein, the term “reduced caloric content” means having a lower number of calories available as compared to an equivalent that does not incorporate a super-hydrated non-digestible dietary fiber component disclosed herein. As used herein, the term “dietary fiber components” means the edible parts of plants or analogous carbohydrates that are resistant to digestion and absorption in monogastric mammalian small intestines. Dietary fiber components include polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, lignins, and associated plant substances. Analogous carbohydrates include non-plant carbohydrates that are derived from industrial processes or synthesis processes.

As used herein, the term “insoluble dietary fiber components” refers to a group of dietary fiber components which cannot be completely broken down by monogastric mammalian digestive enzymes. Insoluble dietary fiber components include waxes, lignins and polysaccharides such as b-glucans, cellulose, hemicelluloses, hexoses, pentoses, lignins, and water-insoluble plant-derived starches such as high-amylose corn starch, high-amylase barley starches, and the like. Analogous insoluble non-plant starches include methylcellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, chitin, and the like. Insoluble dietary fiber components may also be referred to as “water-insoluble” dietary fiber components.

As used herein, the term “soluble dietary fiber components” refers to a group of dietary fiber components that cannot be completely broken down by monogastric mammalian digestive enzymes, but are somewhat soluble in water to form gels and are fermentable by bacterial populations that are normally present in monogastric mammalian large colons to produce, among other things, short- chain fatty acids. Plant-derived soluble dietary fiber components include arabinogalactans, fructans, inulin, pectins, raffinose, xylose, lactulose, and the like. Suitable non-plant soluble dietary fiber components include alginates, agar, carrageen, polydextrose, and the like.

As used herein, the term “hydrated dietary fiber component” refers to a selected soluble dietary fiber or a selected insoluble dietary fiber or a mixture of a selected soluble dietary fiber and a selected insoluble dietary fiber, when mixed with water at ambient temperature and pressure, absorbs water to the saturation point of the dietary fiber. A hydrated dietary fiber component according to the present disclosure comprises a slurry. As used herein, the term “super-hydrated dietary fiber component” refers to a hydrated dietary fiber component that has been exposed to a negative pressure at an ambient temperature for a selected time period thereby causing the hydrated dietary fiber component to absorb a further volume of water thereby forming a super-hydrated dietary component in the form of a paste.

According to an example of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of producing a super-hydrated dietary fiber component may include the steps of (i) selecting a dietary fiber component, (ii) hydrating the dietary fiber by mixing the dietary fiber component and water to form therefrom a hydrated slurry, (iii) placing a selected quantity of this hydrated dietary fiber slurry into a sealable pressure-resistant vessel, (iv) applying a selected negative pressure (i.e., a vacuum) to the hydrated dietary fiber slurry for a selected period of time, (v) removing the now thick paste from the vacuum container and adding a selected volume of water to the thick paste bringing it back to the original slurry consistency, thereby producing a super-hydrated dietary fiber component.

Then, for example, the super-hydrated dietary fiber component may be added as an ingredient with dietary protein components that are then mixed together to produce therewith a super-hydrated dietary protein-based composition. The dietary protein components may include meat-based protein components, poultry-based protein components, fish-based protein components, crustacean-based protein components, dairy-based protein components, plant- based protein components, and the like. It is within the scope of this disclosure to include one or more other components to produce super-hydrated dietary protein- based compositions, for example, bulking agents, fillers, starch, seasonings, flavorings, and the like.

In some aspects, the super-hydrated dietary fiber component may be added as an ingredient with the dietary protein components to form a blend comprising about 1% to about 99% of the super-hydrated dietary fiber component. In a further aspect, the blend of dietary protein components and super-hydrated dietary fiber component comprises about 5% to about 90% of the super-hydrated dietary fiber component. Further, in some aspects, the dietary protein components may have a fat content of about 5% to about 50%. In a particular aspect, the dietary protein components may have a fat content of about 10% to about 40%. It is noted that, if the dietary protein component has a fat content of, for example, less than 5%, supplemental fats or oils may be added when mixing the super-hydrated dietary fiber component with the dietary protein component. Alternatively, if the dietary protein component has a fat content higher than, for example, 50%, the dietary protein may be modified to remove and/or reduce the fat content thereof. For example, if skin-on duck breast is selected as the dietary protein component, the skin and subcutaneous layer of fat may be removed prior to mixing with the super- hydrated dietary fiber component to thereby reduce the overall fat content of the dietary protein component.

Alternatively, the super-hydrated dietary fiber component may be sealingly packaged and then stored until use in preparing a selected protein-based foodstuff recipe. The super-hydrated dietary fiber component may be sealingly packaged by separately dispensing selected quantities into a selected moisture- impermeable packaging container and then vacuum-sealing each dispensed quantity into its container. Suitable quantities of dispensed super-hydrated dietary fiber component may be 5 g, 50 g, 100 g, 150 g, 200 g, 250 g, 300 g, 400 g, 500 g, 750 g, 1 kg, 1.25 kg, 1.5 kg, 3 kg, 5 kg, 10 kg, 25 kg, 50 kg, 100 kg, 250 kg, 500 kg, 1 ,000 kg, and therebetween. Suitable moisture-impermeable containers may be any of thermo-sealable soft-sided plastic films, hard-sided metal or plastic containers, and the like.

A suitable dietary fiber component for use in the method may include a mixture of soluble dietary fiber components and insoluble dietary fiber components. The soluble dietary fiber components may be derived from plants or may be nonplant soluble dietary fiber components or may be a mixture of plant-derived soluble dietary fiber components and non-plant soluble dietary fiber components. The insoluble dietary fiber components may be derived from plants or may be non-plant insoluble dietary fiber components or may be a mixture of plant-derived insoluble dietary fiber components and non-plant insoluble dietary fiber components. According to one aspect, the dietary fiber component may comprise fibers that have particle lengths in the range of about 30m to about 900m. According to another aspect, the ratio of dietary fiber component to water is in the range of 1 : 1.5 (w/v) to about 1 :6 (w/v). According to another aspect, the negative pressure applied to the hydrated dietary fiber component slurry is from a range of about 100 to about 0.001 Torr. According to another aspect, the negative pressure is applied to the hydrated dietary fiber component slurry for a period of time selected from a range of about 2 sec to about 3 h, and therebetween.

In some embodiments, the hydrated or super-hydrated dietary fiber-based components disclosed herein may be incorporated into meat-based compositions or meat-substitute compositions. The compositions may be extruded to produce ground-meat appearing foodstuffs or alternatively formed into patties or alternatively formed into sausages.

In some embodiments, the super-hydrated dietary protein-based compositions may be incorporated into sauces, for example, tomato-based sauces or dairy-based sauces or diary-substitute sauces.

EXAMPLES

Example 1 : Preparation of a super-hydrated dietary fiber component

70.0 g of JRS VITACEL ^® HF401-30 oat fiber (VITACEL is a trademark of the J. Rettenmaier & Sohne Group, Rosenberg, Germany) was placed into a container. 220 mL of tap water warmed to 45° C were added to the oat fiber and then comminglingly mixed together to form a slurry. The slurry was placed into a moisture-impermeable container that was then vacuum-sealed with an internal negative pressure of 10 Torr for 90 sec. During the vacuum-sealing process, the slurry appeared to “froth” and formed into a hydrated oat fiber thick paste.

After a 15-min standing period, the hydrated oat fiber paste was removed from the vacuum-sealed container and placed into a second container. Water was then slowly added and mixed into the hydrated paste until the paste was formed into a thick slurry. A total of 24 mL of water was added to the hydrated paste to form a homogenous super-hydrated oat fiber slurry.

It should be noted that different types of dietary fiber materials may require different amounts of water for the hydration step, and then for the super-hydration step. It is to be noted that the present super-hydration process includes: (i) adding sufficient water to a selected weight of dietary fiber to form a hydrated dietary fiber slurry, (ii) applying a selected negative pressure (i.e., vacuum) to the hydrated dietary fiber slurry for a period of time sufficient for the slurry to form a dietary fiber paste, and (iii) adding a sufficient amount of water to convert the hydrated dietary fiber thick paste back into a slurry, thereby producing a super-hydrated dietary fiber component.

It is also noted that the water used in the hydration step may be modified to be a stock such as a beef stock, a fish stock, a vegetable stock, a chicken stock, or the like. The type stock may be selected based on the type of meat to be supplemented with the super-hydrated fiber components. The stock may be mixed with the fiber component during the hydration step at a temperature of about 25°C to about 55°C. Further, in some aspects, the stock may be free from visible suspended solids. In a yet further aspect, the stock may have a viscosity of about 100 centipoise or less. Example 2: Preparation of meat protein-based foodstuffs comprising super-hydrated dietary fiber components

Super-hydrated dietary fiber components were prepared following the methods disclosed in Example 1 , using (i) JRS VITACEL ^® HF401-30 oat fiber, (ii) JRS VITACEL ^® HF601 sugar cane fiber, (iii) JRS VITACEL ^® HF600-30 wheat fiber, and (iv) JRS VITACEL ^® HF310 rice fiber.

100g batches of super-hydrated dietary protein-based compositions were prepared by mixing together (i) 65g of a selected super-hydrated dietary fiber component, with (ii) 35g of a selected meat protein product. The selected meat protein products were: 1 . Sockeye salmon filet

2. Ground beef

3. Hot Italian pork sausage

4. Ground chicken thighs After mixing was completed (i.e., by reaching a homogenous consistency), each 100g batch was ready for cooking.

Example 3: Organoleptic scoring of pan-fried super-hydrated dietary meat protein-based compositions

A total of 16 meat compositions comprising super-hydrated dietary fiber ingredient components were prepared as outlined in Example 2, then pan-fried for organoleptic assessment by a group of taste testers.

The 16 meat compositions were:

1. ground beef blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^® HF401-30 oat fiber, 2. ground beef blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^® HF601 sugar cane fiber,

3. ground beef blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^® HF600-30 wheat fiber,

4. ground beef blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^® HF310 rice fiber, 5. ground chicken blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^® HF401-30 oat fiber,

6. ground chicken blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^® HF601 sugar cane fiber,

7. ground chicken blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^® HF600-30 wheat fiber, 8. ground chicken blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^® HF310 rice fiber,

9. hot Italian pork sausage blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^® HF401-30 oat fiber, 10. hot Italian pork sausage blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^®

HF601 sugar cane fiber,

11. hot Italian pork sausage blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^® HF600-30 wheat fiber,

12. hot Italian pork sausage blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^® HF310 rice fiber,

13. ground sockeye salmon blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^® HF401-30 oat fiber,

14. ground sockeye salmon blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^® HF601 sugar cane fiber, 15. ground sockeye salmon blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^®

HF600-30 wheat fiber, and

16. ground sockeye salmon blended with a super-hydrated JRS VITACEL ^® HF310 rice fiber.

The control comparison for each of the four types of meat compositions were ground beef, ground chicken thighs, hot Italian pork sausage, ground sockeye salmon filet, wherein none of the controls received any supplementary super-hydrated dietary fiber ingredient components.

Each of the controls and meat compositions comprising super-hydrated dietary fiber ingredient components were assessed by the taste testers for (i) overall appearance, (ii) overall flavor, (iii) restaurant-like flavor, (iv) freshness of flavor, (v) pleasantness of flavor, (vi) overall texture, (vii) meatiness, (vii) firmness, (viii) chewiness, (ix) adhesiveness / stickiness, (x) density. Each assessment was done on a scale of 1 to 10 wherein 10 was the highest score given to the meat control and 1 was the most undesirable score.

The organoleptic scores for this study are presented in Tables 1 to 4. Table 1 : Organoleptic scores for ground beef compositions comprising a super- hydrated dietary fiber component.

Beef Super- hydrated dietary fiber added

Organoleptic element control Oat/Beef Wheat/Beef Rice/Beef Cane/Beef

Overall appearance 10 7 6 7 6 Overall flavor 10 6 8 9 5 Restaurant-like flavor 10 7 9 8 6 Fresh flavor 10 8 6 9 5 Pleasant flavor 10 8 9 8 6 Overall texture 10 6 9 7 5 Meatiness 10 9 8 9 8 Firmness 10 7 7 8 5 Moistness 10 6 9 7 7 Chewiness 10 9 8 7 7

Adhesiveness/stickiness 10 7 7 7 6 Density/relative weight 10 8 7 8 6

Average 10.0 7.3 7.8 7.8 6.0

Table 2: Organoleptic scores for ground chicken compositions comprising a super-hydrated dietary fiber component.

Chicken Super-hydrated dietary fiber added

Organoleptic element control Oat Wheat Rice Sugar cane

Overall appearance 10 7 7 8 6 Overall flavor 10 8 8 10 7 Restaurant-like flavor 10 6 8 9 6 Fresh flavor 10 9 6 9 6 Pleasant flavor 10 9 9 10 5 Overall texture 10 7 7 8 6 Meatiness 10 9 7 9 5 Firmness 10 9 9 8 7 Moistness 10 8 9 7 6 Chewiness 10 9 8 9 5

Adhesiveness/stickiness 10 9 9 8 7 Density/relative weight 10 8 8 8 7

Average 10.0 8.2 7.9 8.6 6.1

Table 3: Organoleptic scores for hot Italian pork sausage compositions comprising a super-hydrated dietary fiber component.

Pork Super-hydrated dietary fiber added contro

Organoleptic element Oat Wheat Rice Sugar cane

Overall appearance 10 7 7 7 5 Overall flavor 10 9 9 10 7 Restaurant-like flavor 10 6 7 8 6 Fresh flavor 10 9 9 8 5 Pleasant flavor 10 8 6 9 6 Overall texture 10 6 8 7 5 Meatiness 10 8 7 9 6 Firmness 10 9 8 9 6 Moistness 10 6 9 7 5 Chewiness 10 9 8 7 6

Adhesiveness/stickines s 10 7 8 6 6

Density/relative weight 10 8 8 9 6 Average 10.0 7.7 7.8 8.0 5.8 Table 4: Organoleptic scores for ground sockeye salmon filet compositions comprising a super-hydrated dietary fiber component.

Super-hydrated dietary fiber added

Salmon

Organoleptic element control Oat Wheat Rice Sugar cane

Overall appearance 10 7 6 7 5 Overall flavor 10 6 9 8 5 Restaurant-like flavor 10 7 9 9 7 Fresh flavor 10 7 9 9 6 Pleasant flavor 10 9 7 9 7 Overall texture 10 7 7 7 5 Meatiness 10 7 8 8 6 Firmness 10 6 7 9 5 Moistness 10 8 8 6 6 Chewiness 10 6 9 6 5

Adhesiveness/stickiness 10 8 8 6 5 Density/relative weight 10 9 8 8 7 Average 10.0 7.3 7.9 7.7 5.8

Example 4: Organoleptic scoring of pan-fried meat protein-based compositions having varying super-hydrated dietary component content

Super-hydrated dietary components were prepared from JRS VITACEL® HF600-30 wheat fiber using the methods disclosed in Example 1.

100g batches of super-hydrated dietary protein-based compositions were then prepared using varying amounts of super-hydrated wheat fiber and salmon filet, ground beef, pork sausage, or chicken thighs using the methods described in Example 2.

The batches of super-hydrated dietary protein-based compositions were tested to obtain an organoleptic score of “good”, “acceptable”, “borderline”, and “undesirable”. Controls consisting of pan-fried protein components without any supplementary super-hydrated wheat fiber were also tested. The results of the organoleptic testing are shown below in Table 5 along with the estimated caloric content of each of the batches of super- hydrated dietary protein-based compositions.

Table 5: Organoleptic scores for super-hydrated dietary protein-based compositions having varying amounts of super-hydrated wheat fiber

(SHWF). Thus, it is clear that the super-hydrated dietary fiber components are capable of significantly reducing the caloric content of the dietary protein components while also maintaining the palatability of the dietary protein components. Example 5: Recipe for a Bolognese meat pasta sauce incorporating a super-hydrated dietary meat protein-based composition

Following herein is an example of a recipe for a Bolognese meat pasta sauce using a ground beef composition comprising a super-hydrated dietary fiber component. - 2 lbs (900 g) of a super-hydrated ground beef composition prepared following the method disclosed in Example 2

- 1 onion, diced

- 1 celery stalk, sliced

- 2 carrots, sliced - 2 garlic cloves, minced

- ½ cup (125 mL) red wine

- 1/3 cup (75 mL) tomato paste

- 2 cups (500 mL) chicken broth

- 2 bay leaves - 2 tsp chopped fresh herbs (sage, marjoram and/or thyme)

- 1 pinch red pepper flakes

- Salt and pepper (to taste)

Finely chop the vegetables in a food processor, set aside on a plate.

In a large non-stick saucepan over high heat, soften the vegetables for 5 minutes, then season with salt and pepper.

Add the super-hydrated meat composition to the softened vegetables and stir occasionally with a wooden cooking spoon until the cooking juices have evaporated and the meat has browned.

Deglaze with the wine and reduce until almost dry. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the broth, bay leaves, herbs and pepper flakes. Cover and let simmer over medium-low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Season to taste.

Serve over pasta. Example 6: Recipe for Texas red chili incorporating a super-hydrated dietary meat protein-based composition

Following herein is an example of a recipe for a Texas red chili sauce using a ground beef composition comprising a super-hydrated dietary fiber component. - 2 lbs (900 g) of a super-hydrated ground beef composition prepared following the method disclosed in Example 2

- 1 onion, diced

- 2 garlic cloves, minced

- 3 tbs (45 mL) chili powder - 1 tsp (5ml_) ground cinnamon

- 1 tsp (5 mL) ground cumin

- ½ tsp (2.5 mL) allspice

- ½ tsp (2.5 mL hot pepper flakes

- 1 pinch ground cloves - 2 tbs (30 mL) white vinegar

- 1 tbs (15 mL) Worcestershire sauce

- 3 cups (750 mL) water

- 1 can (400 mL / 14 oz) tomato sauce

- 1 can (156 mL / 5.5 oz) tomato paste - 2 bay leaves

- 2 cloves

- Salt and pepper (to taste)

In a Teflon pan over medium-high heat, brown the super-hydrated ground beef composition, onion and garlic, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon.

Season with salt. Add the spices and cook for 3 minutes more. Deglaze with the vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Add the water, tomato sauce, tomato paste, bay leaves and cloves. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 1 hour, stirring frequently. Remove the bay leaves.

Adjust the seasoning. Serve with topping of green salsa and jalapeno peppers.

Example 6: Recipe for Cevapcici (Cevapi) Balkan sausage incorporating a super-hydrated dietary meat protein-based composition

Following herein is an example of a recipe for a Cevapcici (Cevapi) Balkan sausage using a ground beef/pork composition comprising a super-hydrated dietary fiber component.

- 2 lbs (900 g) of a super-hydrated extra finely ground 50/50 beef/pork meat mix composition prepared following the method disclosed in Example 2

- 3 egg whites

- 4 garlic cloves, minced - 1 tsp (5ml_) salt

- 1 tsp (5ml_) baking soda

- 2 tsps (10ml_) ground black pepper

- 1 tsp (5ml_) cayenne pepper

- 1 tsp (5ml_) paprika - 2 onions, coarsely chopped

- 2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped

In a large bowl, combine the super-hydrated ground beef/pork mix composition and egg whites. Add the garlic, salt, baking soda, black pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika and mix well. Form the mixture into finger length sausages having a thickness of about

3/4 inch (2 cm). Arrange the sausages on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour until the sausages are firm.

Preheat grill to medium-low heat. Lightly oil the grilling surface. Grill the sausages until cooked through or for about 30 minutes, turning as needed. Serve on a bed of chopped onions and tomatoes.

Example 7: Recipe for Lamb Keema incorporating a super-hydrated dietary meat protein-based composition

Following herein is an example of a recipe for a Lamb Keema using a ground lamb composition comprising a super-hydrated dietary fiber component.

- 2 lbs (900 g) of a super-hydrated extra finely ground lamb mix composition prepared following the method disclosed in Example 2

- 1 tsp (5mL) cooking oil

- 1/2 green pepper, chopped - 1 cup (250 mL) chopped onion

- 2 garlic cloves, minced

- 1 tsp (5mL) corn starch

- 2 tbsp (30mL) curry powder

- 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) beef broth 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) tomato juice

- 1 14 ounce (400 mL) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

- 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) diced tomatoes

- 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) frozen peas, thawed

- 1/2 tsp (2.5mL) salt - 1/2 tsp (2.5mL) chili paste

- 1/2 cup (125 mL) light plain yogurt

- Chopped fresh parsley

Heat cooking oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add super- hydrated ground lamb composition, green pepper and onion. Scramble fry for about 10 minutes until lamb composition is no longer pink. Drain.

Add garlic to the pan. Heat and stir for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant. Add corn starch and curry powder. Heat and stir for 1 minute. Slowly add broth, stirring constantly. Add tomato juice and chickpeas. Stir until boiling. Boil gently, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened.

Add tomatoes, peas, salt and chili paste. Stir. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until peas are heated through. Remove from heat.

Add yogurt. Stir well. Remove to large serving bowl. Garnish with fresh parsley.

Example 8: Recipe for bison meatloaf incorporating a super-hydrated dietary meat protein-based composition Following herein is an example of a recipe for a bison meatloaf using a ground bison composition comprising a super-hydrated dietary fiber component.

- 2 lbs (900 g) of a super- hydrated extra finely ground bison mix composition prepared following the method disclosed in Example 2

- 3 garlic cloves (finely minced) - 2 eggs, beaten

- 1/4 medium sweet onion, finely minced

- 1/2 tsp (2.5mL) salt

- 1/2 tsp (2.5ml_) black ground pepper

- 1/2 cup (125 mL) Panko bread crumbs soaked in 1/4 cup of whole milk - 1/2 cup (125 mL) Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated

- 2 tsps (10mL) Worcestershire sauce

- 1/2 tsp (2.5mL) ground thyme

- 1 tsp (5mL) oregano

- 1 tsp (5mL) dried basil - 1 tsp (5mL) sage

- 1 tsp (5mL) dried parsley

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Spray a shallow casserole dish or small roasting pan with an oil spray. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Form meat mixture into a loaf in the pan. Lightly spray top of loaf with oil spray. Bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours until it reaches an internal minimum temperature of 160°F (70°C).