Edible Coatings for Individual Frozen Meat Portions

A limited investigation was undertaken between 1 July 1975 and 1 July 1976 to develop an edible coating that would retard moisture loss and oxidative rancidity (freezer burn) in frozen meat products. A review of the literature, personal communications with leaders in the field, laboratory screenings, and limited storage studies revealed that the technology of edible coatings has not advanced significantly since 1968 when a number of coatings were investigated at U.S. Army Natick Research and Development Command (NARADCOM). Any satisfactory coating for meat products would probably be a combination of compounds from different sources each contributing different attributes to the final coating. No coating examined in this investigation showed any significant improvement over a simple water glaze coating. The study was discontinued due to lack of sufficient funding.