[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]As market trends shift towards \u00abclean labels,\u00bb the food industry is being forced to make significant efforts to reduce the number of ingredients in their products. Clean labels emphasize simplicity and transparency, pushing manufacturers to respond to consumer demand for more natural and fewer ingredients.<\/p>\n
Contrary to popular belief, curing jam\u00f3n requires more than just jam\u00f3n and salt, as some claim was done traditionally. While it’s true that jam\u00f3n can be made this way, as we mentioned a few weeks ago, for a long time now, \u00absal nitro\u00bb (today in the form of E-250 and E-252) has been added to the curing process. However, today we won’t focus on the presence of these two preservatives in jam\u00f3n labels, but instead on another ingredient that, like fat and salt, has been declared a public health enemy: sugar.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\u00bb3902″ img_size=\u00bbfull\u00bb][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
As\u00ed es. El jam\u00f3n necesita, para una correcta curaci\u00f3n, de la presencia<\/strong> de az\u00facar en el inicio<\/strong> de su elaboraci\u00f3n. Sin embargo, lejos de lo que pueda parecer, no se utiliza como ingrediente para endulzar<\/strong> el producto o rebajarle el punto de sal. Su funci\u00f3n es meramente tecnol\u00f3gica<\/strong>, y os contamos el porqu\u00e9.<\/p>\n El az\u00facar sirve de alimento para los microorganismos<\/strong> naturalmente presentes en la carne y que ayudan a transformar un simple m\u00fasculo, en esa maravilla que es el jam\u00f3n. En m\u00e1s de una ocasi\u00f3n os hemos mencionado los numerosos procesos bioqu\u00edmicos<\/strong> que suceden durante la elaboraci\u00f3n del jam\u00f3n. Pues bien, todo ello comienza<\/strong> cuando a\u00f1adimos la sal gruesa al jam\u00f3n, acompa\u00f1ada de un preparado a base de sal fina, los mencionados conservantes, antioxidantes y alg\u00fan tipo de az\u00facar. La sal<\/strong> ayuda a extraer el agua y limitar el efecto de las enzimas musculares -adem\u00e1s de aportar sabor-, los conservantes, previenen el crecimiento bacteriano y colaboran en la formaci\u00f3n del color rojizo, los anioxidantes dificultan la posible formaci\u00f3n de nitrosaminas, y el az\u00facar<\/strong>, colabora en la acci\u00f3n microbiana que transforma la carne en jam\u00f3n. As\u00ed que, efectivamente, el jam\u00f3n lleva az\u00facar, pero\u2026 \u00bfcomo ingrediente?<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Sugar in jam\u00f3n?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, that’s right. jam\u00f3n requires sugar at the beginning of its curing process for proper maturation. However, contrary to what one might think, sugar is not used as an ingredient to sweeten the product or reduce its saltiness. Its role is purely technological, and here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n Sugar serves as nourishment for the naturally occurring microorganisms in the meat, which help transform a simple muscle into the delicacy we know as jam\u00f3n. As we’ve mentioned before, various biochemical processes take place during jam\u00f3n production. This all begins when coarse salt is added to the jam\u00f3n, along with a mix of fine salt, preservatives, antioxidants, and some type of sugar. The salt helps draw out moisture and limit the effect of muscular enzymes\u2014while also adding flavor. The preservatives prevent bacterial growth and contribute to the jam\u00f3n reddish color, antioxidants prevent the potential formation of nitrosamines, and sugar aids in the microbial activity that transforms the meat into jam\u00f3n. So yes, jam\u00f3n contains sugar, but is it considered an ingredient?<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Ingredient or Processing Aid?<\/strong><\/p>\n An ingredient can be defined as any substance (including food additives) used in the production of food that is present in the final product. A processing aid, on the other hand, is defined by the Royal Spanish Academy as \u00aba substance not consumed as food itself, used in food production for a specific technological purpose.\u00bb<\/p>\n So, what is sugar in jam\u00f3n an ingredient or a processing aid? The tiny amount of sugar added during the salting process, combined with its absence in the final product, classifies it as a processing aid in jam\u00f3n production. According to current legislation, processing aids are not required to be listed as ingredients, although you might still find them in the nutritional analysis, albeit in very small quantities.<\/p>\n According to AESAN (Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition), \u201cunlike additives, processing aids are not present in the final product, and thus, they are not considered food ingredients. As per Regulation 1169\/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, they are not included in the list of ingredients.\u201d<\/p>\n To answer the question posed in the title of this article: yes, jam\u00f3n contains sugar. However, the small amount added (remember, as a processing aid, not an ingredient) is so minimal that it leaves no residue in the final product. The sugar is consumed and transformed by the naturally occurring microorganisms in the meat to carry out their task. For this reason, it’s not required to be mentioned on the label. Whether listed or not, it\u2019s there, but you won’t consume it in its original form when enjoying jam\u00f3n, as it has disappeared thanks to the magic of biochemistry.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]As market trends shift towards \u00abclean labels,\u00bb the food industry is being forced to make significant efforts to reduce the number of ingredients in their products. Clean labels emphasize simplicity and transparency, pushing manufacturers to respond to consumer demand for more natural and fewer ingredients. Contrary to popular belief, curing jam\u00f3n requires more than just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[109],"tags":[321],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4426"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4426"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4427,"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4426\/revisions\/4427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}