Fermented meat is an important preservation process which has evolved for
meat
Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...
but is rarely used alone.
A particularly common form of
fermented meat product is the
sausage
A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs, may be included as fillers or extenders.
...
, with notable examples including
chorizo
''Chorizo'' ( , ; ; see #Names, below) is a type of pork sausage originating from the Iberian Peninsula. It is made in many national and regional varieties in several countries on different continents. Some of these varieties are quite differe ...
,
salami
Salami ( ; : ''salame'') is a ''salume'' consisting of fermented and air-dried meat, typically pork. Historically, salami was popular among Southern, Eastern, and Central European peasants because it can be stored at room temperature fo ...
,
sucuk,
pepperoni,
nem chua,
som moo, and
saucisson
Saucisson (), also saucisson sec or saucisse sèche, is a family of thick, dry-cured sausage-shaped charcuterie in French cuisine. Typically made of pork, or a mixture of pork and other meats, saucisson are a type of charcuterie similar to s ...
.
The process of fermentation may be used to render edible meat that would otherwise be poisonous to humans, as in the case of the Icelandic dish
hákarl
(short for ), referred to as fermented shark in English, is a national dish of Iceland consisting of Greenland shark or other sleeper shark that has been cured with a particular fermentation process and hung to dry for four to five months. I ...
, the fermented meat of the Greenland shark.
In 2015, the
International Agency for Research on Cancer
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC; ) is an intergovernmental agency forming part of the World Health Organization of the United Nations.
Its role is to conduct and coordinate research into the causes of cancer. It also cance ...
of the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
classified
processed meat
Processed meat is considered to be any meat that has been modified in order to either improve its taste or to extend its shelf life. Methods of meat processing include salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, and the addition of chemical prese ...
, that is, meat that has undergone
salting,
curing, fermenting, or
smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance is combusted, and the resulting smoke is typically inhaled to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream of a person. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, whi ...
, as "
carcinogenic
A carcinogen () is any agent that promotes the development of cancer. Carcinogens can include synthetic chemicals, naturally occurring substances, physical agents such as ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and Biological agent, biologic agent ...
to humans".
See also
*
Fermentation in food processing
In food processing, fermentation is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohol or organic acids using microorganisms—yeasts or bacteria—without an oxidizing agent being used in the reaction. Fermentation usually implies that the action of mi ...
References
{{Meat-stub
Animal-based fermented foods
Meat