Food Safety Assessment Based on Determination of Lipid Degradation Products in Meat Products

Lipid degradation is one of the main factors contributing to the deterioration of meat and meat products, significantly affecting sensory and nutritional properties and leading to the formation of multiple potentially toxic compounds that diminish food quality and negatively impact health. In this regard, given the different oxidation mechanisms and multiple factors that influence them, it is necessary to identify this process to guarantee the quality and safety of meat products. For this purpose, there are international regulations which allow the identification of the oxidation state in meat, however there are no specific regulations for some of these oxidation products. Consequently, due to their relevance, the qualitative and quantitative determination of these compounds represent useful tools to evaluate the oxidative state of meat to guarantee quality and safety of meat products. In this context, this review addresses the fundamentals of lipid oxidation in meat and meat products, the main compounds generated during this process, and the methodologies used for their determination.