Sweden has experienced a surge in retail labels within the food industry the last decade and this increase has meant great changes within the meat industry. Producer brands have been faced with issues of strategy formulation and changing power structures that has affected small-and medium sized companies more than others. The purpose of this thesis is to, from a small- and medium sized producer perspective; investigate the impact the increase in retail label products have on selected producer brand producing companies in the Swedish meat industry and if they constitute a major threat to the producer brands. Furthermore, the thesis addresses issues such as the present structure of the industry and future views of the meat industry. Method A qualitative research method was used in order to investigate the impact of the increase in retail labels. Interviews were conducted with three cured meat producers operating in the region of Småland. Furthermore, a market leading producer and representatives from the market leading retailer was also included in the study to gain a deeper understanding of market conditions. Results The results of the interviews shows an industry that is mature and experiencing slow and sometimes even declining growth where companies are pretty much set in their ways. The fiercest competition, over shelf space, is between producers with similar strategies instead of between producers and retailers. The increase in retail labels has meant a drastically reduced shelf space for producers to compete over. However, the three producers have taken steps in order to secure that the threat from retail labels is kept at a minimum. Nevertheless, new retail labels that will be closer to producer brands in terms of quality and price are coming. These are seen as a greater threat than the existing labels.

<p>Sweden has experienced a surge in retail labels within the food industry the last decade and this increase has meant great changes within the meat industry. Producer brands have been faced with issues of strategy formulation and changing power structures that has affected small-and medium sized companies more than others. The purpose of this thesis is to, from a small- and medium sized producer perspective; investigate the impact the increase in retail label products have on selected producer brand producing companies in the Swedish meat industry and if they constitute a major threat to the producer brands. Furthermore, the thesis addresses issues such as the present structure of the industry and future views of the meat industry.</p><p>Method</p><p>A qualitative research method was used in order to investigate the impact of the increase in retail labels. Interviews were conducted with three cured meat producers operating in the region of Småland. Furthermore, a market leading producer and representatives from the market leading retailer was also included in the study to gain a deeper understanding of market conditions.</p><p>Results</p><p>The results of the interviews shows an industry that is mature and experiencing slow and sometimes even declining growth where companies are pretty much set in their ways. The fiercest competition, over shelf space, is between producers with similar strategies instead of between producers and retailers. The increase in retail labels has meant a drastically reduced shelf space for producers to compete over. However, the three producers have taken steps in order to secure that the threat from retail labels is kept at a minimum. Nevertheless, new retail labels that will be closer to producer brands in terms of quality and price are coming. These are seen as a greater threat than the existing labels.</p>

Nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO) gases, alone or with oxalate, phytate, or ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) were tested for antibotulinal activity as substitutes for sodium nitrite in ground pork inoculated with spores of Clostridium botulinum, then abused by storage at 277°C. Nitric oxide with 250 ppm oxalate or phytate was most inhibitory, while NO alone was as effective as 156 ppm sodium nitrite for inhibition of gas and botulinal toxin production in the meat system. All swollen samples contained very low levels of residual nitrite, but nitroso heme and soluble iron content did not change compared with unswollen samples of the same treatment while total heme content decreased slightly. Binding iron in the meat system did not appear to be sufficient for botulinal inhibition. Apparently, residual nitrite must be present to react directly with the botulinal cell, inhibiting growth. NO gas would not be a practical subsitute for sodium nitrite in curing, since nitrite itself is formed when meat is blended in the presence of this gas. Neither could CO be used in meat curing, since the pink color of raw, CO-treated meat disappeared after cooking. More importantly, all samples treated with CO swelled rapidly and contained botulinal toxin.

Although nitrite is a known inhibitor of Clostridium botulinum in cured meats, the mechanism of inhibition is not understood. The observation has been made that iron is required for growth of C. botulinum and that the role of nitrite may be to alter the pathway of iron uptake by these organisms. Since the color change in cured meats is due to the binding of nitrite to the heme group of meat pigments, it was hypothesized that nitrite may also be tying up an essential iron source, heme. This experiment was an investigation of the possibility that myoglobin added to a meat system would stimulate growth and toxin production by C. botulinum much more than myoglobin that had been nitrosylated before inclusion in the product. Treatments were included to compare the effects of a heme iron source, myoglobin, with that of an ionic source, ferric chloride. To help understand the role of free iron in botulinal growth, several treatments contained a metal ion chlator, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Nitrite caused a definite delay of growth, as evidenced by gas bubbles, when compared with a non-nitrite system. Addition of ferric chloride resulted in an increase in the rate of of appearance of swollen samples, although growth was enhanced even more when myoglobin was added. When nitrosylated myoglobin was included, growth was inhibited more than in the treatment with nitrite alone. EDTA inhibited growth of C. botulinum but a conclusion should not be made with respect to the chelation of iron since EDTA chelates many other metals. Residual nitrite levels had declined to below 10 ppm by the time swelling occurred. Although swelling did not occur until nitrite had declined in the products, the absence of nitrite alone did not allow growth and toxin production. Since nitrosylated myoglobin and EDTA inhibited botulinal growth even after residual nitrite had declined, it is possible that the inhibitory action of nitrite is creating a nutritional deficiency for C. botulinum.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2004. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Pediococcus acidilactici as a lactic acid producer, and sucrose were added to breakfast strip products in order to reduce added levels of sodium nitrite and sodium chloride and yet limit the growth of Clostridium botulinum and inhibit toxin production. Sucrose at 0.4 or 0.9% with P. acidilactici at 1.0 x 10 cells/g were added during preparation of breakfast strip products prepared with combinations of 40 or 80 ppm sodium nitrite and 1.0 or 2.0% sodium chloride. Other ingredients were added at levels normally used in cured meat products. C. botulinum types A and B at 1,000 spores/g were inoculated during product preparation. The finished products were sliced, vacuum packed, double bagged, vacuum sealed again, and incubated at 27 C. Samples were analyzed before incubation and every week for 4 weeks for anaerobic plate counts, pH, residual nitrite, Most Probable Number counts, and botulinal toxin. The results revealed that 0.9% sucrose increased the acid production, thus inhibiting the botulinal growth and toxin formation in the products. Lactic acid bacteria and sucrose at 0.4% did not produce enough acid to inhibit toxin formation. Sodium nitrite at 40 ppm and sodium chloride at 1.0% permitted increased growth rate and toxin development of C. botulinum. Addition of 0.9% sucrose and P. acidilactici was necessary to provide antibotulinal properties to breakfast strip products prepared with 40 ppm sodium nitrite and 1.0% sodium chloride.

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to understand how a cured meat manufacturing company can succeed with an internal change project when the reason is external triggers from society. With this purpose in mind two research questions have been formulated.    They are formulated as followed:  <li data-leveltext="%1." data-font="Georgia,Segoe UI" data-listid="31" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">Which triggers are the reason for change projects to take place in a cured meat manufacturing company?  <li data-leveltext="%1." data-font="Georgia,Segoe UI" data-listid="31" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1">Which factors are crucial for a successful change project in a cured meat manufacturing company?   Method – A case study has been conducted at a cured meat manufacturing company, that previously has been through the work of a change project. 13 semi structured interviews were conducted. The interviewees ranged from top management to workers in the production unit. In addition, all employees received a survey about the change process. On top of this, a document study was conducted. The data that was collected was then analyzed in relation to the theoretical framework and then generated the study’s results.   Findings and discussion – the study’s findings show that there is a connection between trends in society and the effect they have on change project through triggers. These connections in this study has a relation to the Leavitt-Ry-theory (Bakka &amp; Fivelsdal, 2006) and Hughes’ triggers theory (Hughes, 2010). The most visible triggers are politics, environment and socio-culture. Trends in society have a direct connection to the outcome of change projects vision and mission, factors which lead the way in the work of a change project. This shows a connection between trends in society and change projects, because of the four identified key factors of a change project. These four factors are vision &amp; mission, targets &amp; sub-targets, communication &amp; dedication and lastly time.   Limitations – In this study the focus was on one single case. A company that previously had been through the work of a change project. Interviews were held with collective employees that had taken part in the previous change project, although many of the previous participants had quit their job. Therefore, their impressions/experiences were lost. On top of that the documentation from the previous change project were inadequate. These factors together with the fact that the study only had one case in focus made the generalizability a question for discussion.   Keywords – change projects, project, trends, society, vision, communication, cured meat manufacturing company, triggers. / Syfte – Syftet med denna studie är att förstå hur ett charktillverkningsföretag lyckas med ett internt förändringsarbete när anledningen till förändringen är starka externa samhällstriggers.  Med detta syfte i åtanke har det tagits fram två frågeställningar. Dessa frågeställningar lyder:  <li data-leveltext="%1." data-font="Georgia" data-listid="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">Vilka triggers finns för förändringsarbeten i ett charktillverkningsföretag?  <li data-leveltext="%1." data-font="Georgia" data-listid="1" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1">Vilka faktorer är avgörande för ett förändringsarbete inom ett charktillverkningsföretag?   Metod – Det har genomförts en enfallsstudie på ett charktillverkningsföretag som tidigare har genomfört ett förändringsarbete i organisationen. Det genomfördes 13 semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer i olika position på företaget, allt från högsta ledning till produktionspersonal.  Utöver detta delades det ut en survey till produktionspersonalen där fokus låg på upplevelser från förändringsarbeten. Det gjordes också en dokumentstudie från ett föregegående förändringsarbete. Den data som tagits fram har sedan analyserats i förhållande till det uppställda teoretiska ramverket och har då resulterat i studiens resultat.   Resultat och diskussion – Resultatet av studien visar att det finns ett samband mellan samhällstrender och hur de påverkar organisationer och förändringsarbeten genom triggers. Dessa samband har i denna studien stöd i Leavitt och Ry’s teori (Bakka &amp; Fivelsdal, 2006) och Hughes triggersteori (Hughes, 2010). Dessa triggers är främst politik, miljö och sociala aspekter. Samhällstrender påverkar förändringsarbetets vision och mission, faktorer som genomsyrar företaget och visar vägen för förändringsarbeten. Detta visar på ett samband mellan samhällstrender och förändringsarbeten då de fyra faktorer som är avgörande i förändringsarbeten är vision &amp; mission, mål &amp; delmål, kommunikation &amp; engagemang och tid.   Begränsningar – I denna studie låg det endast fokus på ett fallföretag. Ett företag som tidigare har genomgått ett förändringsarbete. Det genomfördes intervjuer med kollektivanställda som hade varit med i detta tidigare förändringsarbete, men många av de tidigare deltagarna hade slutat och därför gick deras intryck/erfarenheter förlorade. Dessutom var dokumentationen från detta förändringsarbete bristfällig. Detta tillsammans med det faktum att det var en enfallsstudie som utfördes kan sägas ha minskat generaliserbarheten i studien.   Nyckelord – Förändringsarbete, projekt, samhällstrender, omvärlden, vision, kommunikation, charktillverkningsföretag, triggers.

La domestication est un modèle idéal pour étudier les processus évolutifs car elle implique des événements d'adaptation récents avec une sélection forte. Les champignons sont de bons organismes modèles pour étudier la domestication et plus généralement l’adaptation, grâce à leurs petits génomes et leur facilité de manipulation. Ils sont utilisés depuis longtemps pour la transformation alimentaire, par exemple P. camemberti et P. roqueforti pour la fabrication du fromage, et la levure Saccharomyces pour la fermentation du vin et de la bière. Chez ces champignons, des caractéristiques bénéfiques ont été acquises pour la transformation alimentaire, et les transferts horizontaux de gènes se sont révélés être un moyen essentiel d’adaptation rapide dans l’environnement alimentaire. Ici, j’ai étudié principalement l’adaptation de deux espèces de Penicillium relativement distantes phylogénétiquement - P. nalgiovense et P. salamii, toutes deux utilisées pour la maturation de la viande séchée. J’ai étudié si ces champignons ont été domestiqués, c’est-à-dire si les populations alimentaires se sont adaptées à l’environnement de la viande séchée, et s’il y a eu une différenciation génétique par rapport à d’autres populations; j’ai aussi recherché si des traces génomiques d’adaptation pouvaient être détectées. En analysant des génomes complets, j’ai trouvé peu de diversité génétique et de structure de population chez P. salamii et encore moins chez P. nalgiovense. Des expériences ont montré que les populations de P. salamii et P. nalgiovense provenant de viande séchée présentaient des taux de protéolyse et de lipolyse plus faibles et des couleurs différentes de celles des populations de viande non séchée. De plus, nous avons trouvé des transferts de gènes horizontaux partagés par P. salamii et P. nalgiovense et absents chez d’autres espèces de Penicillium. En résumé, ces résultats indiquent une évolution convergente et une adaptation des populations de P. salamii et P. nalgiovense à la viande séchée. J'ai également étudié les conséquences de la domestication chez le champignon utilisé pour la production de fromages bleus, P. roqueforti, montrant une faible fertilité des souches fromagères par rapport aux souches non fromagères. Les résultats de la thèse soulignent donc l'importance des transferts de gènes horizontaux pour une adaptation rapide chez les champignons et renforcent l'idée que les champignons domestiqués pour la production de nourriture sont de bons modèles pour étudier l'adaptation et l'évolution. / Domestication is an ideal model to study evolutionary processes due to the recent adaptation events and strong selection it implies. Fungi in particular are good model organisms to study domestication and more generally adaptation, with their small genomes and experimental tractability. Fungi have been used for food production, e.g., P. camemberti and P. roqueforti for cheesemaking, and Saccharomyces yeast for wine and beer fermentation. In these fungi, beneficial traits have been acquired for food production, and horizontal gene transfers (HGTs) have been shown to be a major way to rapid adaptation in food environment. Here, I mainly studied the adaptation of food Penicillium fungi using two distantly related Penicillium species - P. nalgiovense and P. salamii, both used for dry-cured meat maturation, to assess whether these fungi have been domesticated, i.e., whether food populations adapted to the dry-cured meat environment, whether were genetically differentiated from other populations, and whether we could find genomic footprints of adaptive events. Using genome sequencing, we found little diversity and population structure in P. salamii and even less in P. nalgiovense. Experiments showed that both P. salamii and P. nalgiovense dry-cured meat populations had lower proteolysis and lipolysis rates and different colors from non-dry-cured meat populations. Furthermore, we found HGTs shared by P. salamii and P. nalgiovense while lacking in other Penicillium species. Altogether, these results indicate convergence evolution and adaptation in P. salamii and P. nalgiovense dry-cured meat populations, as was previously found in cheese Penicillium fungi. I also studied the consequences of domestication in the blue cheese fungus P. roqueforti, showing lower fertility of cheese strains compared to non-cheese strains. The results of the thesis thus point out the importance of HGTs for rapid adaptation in fungi and reinforce the view that fungi are ideal models to study adaptation and evolution.

With the objective to study food safety aspects of innovative meat technologies and combinations among them, QDS (Quick-dry-slice), NaCl-free processing and high pressure were integrated in the production of two types of sliced dry-cured meat products. Dry fermented sausages (chorizo) were produced at acid (4,8) and low acid (5,2) pH and hurdles such as acidification and smoking were introduced in the production of dry-cured hams. The food safety was evaluated by challenge tests with Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella. Pathogenic microorganisms could not grow in any of the products, however, their survival was affected by NaCl-free processing, acidification, smoking and pressurization at 600 MPa. High pressure was necessary to assure food safety during storage of the chorizo with the lowest hurdle combination and had an important bactericidal effect in dry-cured hams, which was lower in NaCl-free processing. / Con el objetivo de valorar el impacto que tienen las tecnologías innovadoras en la industria cárnica y combinaciones entre ellas sobre la seguridad alimentaria, el proceso QDS®, el “procesado sin NaCl añadido“ y las altas presiones se integraron en la producción de dos tipos de productos crudo-curados loncheados: chorizo (ácido, pH 4,8, y poco ácido, pH 5,2) y jamón curado (con y sin acidificación y/o ahumado). La seguridad de los productos se avaluó mediante challenge tests con Listeria monocytogenes y Salmonella. Ninguno de los productos permitió el crecimiento de los patógenos pero su evolución se vio afectada por el “procesado sin NaCl añadido“, la acidificación, el ahumado y la presurización a 600 MPa. La presurización fue necesaria para asegurar la seguridad alimentaria durante el almacenaje del chorizo con menos obstáculos y en los jamones curados tuvo un efecto bactericida importante, que fue menor en “procesado sin NaCl añadido“.