Short name: HMRI
Address: 1097 Budapest, Gubacsi út 6/b, HUNGARY
Telephon: (36-1)215-0946
Fax: (36-1)215-0626
E-mail: ohki@interware.hu

Director: Dr. Gabriella Zsarnóczay
Departments:
Secretariat
Chief-accountant (Judit Szakállné-Gecse)
Department of Chemistry and Biology (Gasparikné dr. Judit Reichardt )
Department of Quality Control (Edit Nagy)
Engineering Department (József Balogh)

Short history and activities of the Hungarian Meat Research Institute

In Hungary, many early written documents have been found from the 13th century regarding the early organization of butchers. Naturally, the first records refer to early social and commercial aspects of the butcher's trade. With the appearance of the guilds, the meat branch took a more distinctive form with its problem of organization, administration, hygiene and technology.
The Hungarian meat industry was a subject of science already at early times, however, the attention of the veterinarians and chemists was mainly focussed on the questions of quality in connection with public health, veterinary hygiene and with the prevention of adulterations.
In our country, the organized meat research, (dealing with quality aspects, product development, production methods and modernization of processes) began, concurrently with similar activities in other food processing branches, at the end of nineteen forties. The time-lag behind such initiatives taken in other countries was insignificant since meat research institutes were set up almost everywhere after the second world-war.
This way, apart from the activities in the field of veterinary science and meat hygiene, organized meat research in Hungary began in the period between 1945-1950.

First, the National Institute of Agricultural Industry has been created by the competent authorities in 1949. Its predecessor was the internationally well-known National Chemical Institute, founded in 1882. However, in 1952, the name of the National Institute of Agricultural Industry, working under the direction of Dr. Gábor Török, changed to Research Institute for Canning, Meat Packing and Refrigeration. Professor Dr. Ferenc Lőrincz was the head of the Meat Research Department of this institution at that time. However, the Meat Research Department with its staff of seven persons and directed by professor Lőrincz, was not able to meet all research requirements of the Hungarian meat industry at the beginning. Thus, with the assistance of the former Meat Industry Management of the Ministry of Food, this research group cooperated with research workers not being the members of the Research Institute for Canning, Meat Packing and Refrigeration. In 1959, under the direction of professor Lőrincz, the independent Hungarian Meat Research Institute was founded incorporating the research workers from other institutions, too. Professor Lőrincz, founder of organized meat research in Hungary, has been active in this field till his retirement in December 1969.
In the year of foundation R & D was done in 5 departments (Dept. of Technology, Chemistry and Biology, Quality Control, Raw Material and Economy as well as Engineering).
Main fields of earlier research and development activities were: biochemistry and histology of muscle aging, salt diffusion, ripening and drying of salami and sausages, industrial application of spice extracts, homogeneity of meat products, grading of pigs, preslaughter handling of animals, spoilage of meat and meat products, enzymic detection of freezing in meats as well as projecting and manufacturing several equipments and slaughter lines.
One of the most important R & D activities was the introduction of starter culture technology into the fermented meat products manufacturing adjusted specifically to Hungarian customers' taste including selection of starter cultures, too.
Other timely research has been done in the field of food safety: mycotoxin, nitrosamine, C. botulinum, Listeria, EHEC, (entero-haemorrhagic E. coli), base-line studies etc.
As for mycotoxin research it has been proven - in cooperation with the Research Institute in Karlsruhe - that under the GMP of traditional salami manufacturing there is no risk of mycotoxin formation in the mould cover of the salami. No risk of nitrosamin formation was found in Hungarian meat products either, because of relatively mild heat treatment and regular application of reducing agents (ascorbate). By the help of challenge tests with C. botulinum, Listeria monocytogenes and EHEC in traditional or starter culture added fermented sausages it could be proven that there is no chance of growth and toxin production by these bacteria and in several cases they disappeared during drying and/or storage.
Base-line studies (testing meat plants for the level of microbial contamination at regular intervals in order to detect changes) and challenge tests are being done continuously on contractual base. To meet the demand of extended shelf life several complex research projects have been launched aiming at investigating the effect of initial microbial load, heat treatment, preservatives, water activity, pH, different types of packaging (vacuum or MAP) and storage temperature on the inhibition of microbial growth.
Similarly important as food safety intensive research and technical development is being carried out on the topic meat and health in the frame of which not only an objective view on scientifically safe base is formulated but also functional meat products are developed contributing to a healthier nutrition. In this field the institute closely cooperates with dieticians. In order to help meat plants in selecting the right additive from the immense quantity on the market functional properties of additives are continuously tested, data are collected and registered.
In addition to R & D activities, routine tests are done determining analytical composition of meat and meat products, properties of packaging films, function of smoking-cooking chambers, ripening rooms etc. also on contractual basis.
Several of the Institute's research topics are worked out in the frame of international cooperation sponsored by EU.
Two times a year meetings are organized: Meat Science Days in springtime and Meat Training Course Days in autumn with the participation of meat and poultry industry.
Our periodical "Meat" (Hungarian name is "a HÚS") published quarterly collects the timely knowledge in meat industry and has English, German and Russian summaries. A Museum of Meat Industry has a rich collection of equipments and historical documents.
The Departments of the Institute are well equipped and capable of modern R & D work as well as of routine analyses in the fields mentioned above.