Going Organic: POOPeroni

Craving for sausages yet wanting to stay fit and healthy? Don't you worry no more for healthy sausages are on their way - tasty, organic and good for the body. 

Scientist in Spain found out that the trick to making sausages healthier may be baby poop. Bacteria from baby poop can help make delicious sausages, which could transform savory meats into health foods much like probiotic yogurts.

THE SAUSAGE

Fermented sausages including salami, and pepperoni are made from mixtures of ground meat, salt, sugar, spices and curing agents stuffed into casings. They are typically fermented by either bacteria naturally found in the raw meat or commercially available bacteria added to the meat during manufacturing. The lactic acid these fermenting bacteria produce, together with the drying of the meat, suppresses the spread of germs that would otherwise spoil the sausages. Scientists reasoned that probiotic bacteria such as those in yogurts could be used in fermented sausages as well.

Live probiotic bacteria can have a wide variety of health benefits. For instance, these microbes could help burn away belly fat, treat depression, lower inflammation, prevent urinary-tract infections and fight infant gastrointestinal disorders such as constipation.

"Probiotic fermented sausages will give an opportunity to consumers who don't take dairy products the possibility to include probiotic foods to their diet," said study co-author Anna Jofré, a food microbiologist at Catalonia's Institute of Food and Agricultural Research's (IRTA) food-safety program in Girona, Spain.

However for probiotic bacteria to work, they must survive the acids in the digestive tract. As such, the researchers focused on microbes found alive in human feces.

BABY FECES

The scientists concentrated on 43 fecal samples of healthy infants up to 6 months old. The samples were taken from diapers, mostly provided by midwives in support groups for new parents.

The two kinds of bacteria used most often in probiotics, Lactobacillusand Bifidobacterium, are far more abundant in infant poop than in adult excrement. In addition, "infant feces are natural samples, easy to obtain," Jofré said.

The scientists tried fermenting six batches of sausages using three strains of bacteria found in baby poop and three other commercial probiotic strains of bacteria. Studies they had done in the past established the strains they used from infant excrement were safe for people.

VERDICT

Professional tasters confirmed all the sausages tasted like regular fuet (A kind of Mediterranean fermented pork sausage commonly found in Catalonia in northeastern Spain. It resembles the Spanish fermented sausage known as chorizo), even though all were healthier, low-fat, low-salt versions. 

The scientists tried their creations as well. "We ate them, and they tasted very good," said one. Future research needs to confirm if this strain of bacteria actually has probiotic effects. "Meanwhile, they can be used for the production of tasty fermented sausages," Jofré said.

They've also assured that the sausages they made had no feces in them, only bacteria cultured from the poop.
So far, no companies are currently interested in commercializing theses sausages.

Reference: http://news.discovery.com/human/health/pooperoni-baby-poop-bacteria-make-healthy-sausages-140220.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1