Does starch-free ham have more lean meat? Jinhua ham is expensive, so is it healthier?

Sausage and ham are simply irresistible delicacies for foodies. When buying sausages, some people care about the brand, some care about the taste, and some care about the meat content.

It is indeed exciting to see meat when eating sausage, so in order to make people feel that "there is meat in ham", many starch-free hams have appeared on the shelves.

Does starch-free ham really have no starch?

Does it contain more meat?

There is also the extremely expensive Jinhua ham. What makes it so expensive?

01 Starch-free ham has no starch? The idea is good, but the reality is very embarrassing

Nowadays, many hams are labeled "starch-free", but this does not mean that there is no starch in them. It’s just that the starch content is relatively low, so low that you can’t even taste it.

According to my country's ham sausage implementation standard GB/T 20712-2006, ham sausage can be divided into four grades (see the figure below), and when the starch content is ≤1% and the protein content is ≥4%, it can be claimed to be starch-free ham. [1]

▲Image source: Screenshot of GB/T 20712-2006 standard

Some businesses will add white sugar to sausages to improve the taste, such as the one shown below:

▲Image source: e-commerce platform

Therefore, you must understand that the starch-free ham you buy is not without starch, it’s just that the content is relatively small and you cannot taste it.

If you are losing weight, it is recommended that you check the ingredient list when buying starch-free ham and try to choose one without added sugar.

02 Is starch-free ham all lean meat? Not really

When you hear "no starch", your first thought is - it's all meat? But that's not the case.

Starch-free ham simply has a lower starch content, but the amount of meat may not have increased. What has increased is only soy protein or possibly pig skin.

Let's first look at ordinary ham with starch: the ingredients are mainly chicken, water, maltose, soy protein, starch:

▲Image source: e-commerce platform

The two types of ham in the picture below are starch-free ham. In the ingredient list, you can see pig skin, which also contains soy protein. Compared with ordinary ham sausage, the soy protein content of starch-free ham is higher:

▲Image source: e-commerce platform

▲Image source: e-commerce platform

The protein content in pig skin is relatively high, at 27.4g/100g, which is higher than the 20.3g/100g of lean pork[2]. The protein in it is mainly collagen, which becomes elastic jelly after melting and solidifying. Adding it to sausages can not only replace starch, making the sausages better shaped and tougher, but also improve the taste.

However, I need to tell you that although adding pig skin can increase the protein content of the product, collagen is an incomplete protein. First of all, its absorption rate is very poor. Secondly, collagen does not go directly to your face to increase the elasticity of the skin. It must first be digested into amino acids, absorbed into the blood, and used by the organs first.

Therefore, starch-free ham is not entirely lean meat, but contains more pig skin and soy protein. For example, the green one in the picture above has a higher protein content than pure meat Jinhua ham.

03 Is Jinhua ham expensive so it is healthy? Eating too much is not good for high blood pressure

Generally, few people buy Jinhua ham. Most people buy it as gifts because it is really... too expensive... The price of one is almost two or three hundred yuan, and some are even five or six hundred yuan.

So, some people would say that since it is so expensive, it must be very healthy. As a specialty of Jinhua City, Jinhua ham is sold for its reputation and high meat content. But being expensive does not mean it is healthy and you can eat as much as you want.

The ingredients of Jinhua ham are generally: pig hind legs, salt, sodium nitrite. Take a look at the nutritional composition table of this Jinhua ham in the picture below:

▲Image source: e-commerce platform

What we need to pay attention to is the sodium content: 4430 mg of sodium per 100 g, equivalent to 11 g of salt. If you eat 100 g of ham, the salt intake exceeds 83% of the 6 g/day recommended intake in the Chinese Dietary Guidelines[3]. A high-salt diet not only increases the risk of high blood pressure, but also increases the risk of gastric cancer.

Therefore, it is okay to eat some Jinhua ham occasionally to try it out, but it is best to control the amount to 20~30g each time. It is also recommended to reduce the salt intake of other foods in the day. The amount that needs to be reduced is approximately 2~3g (the amount of half a beer bottle cap).

To sum up: starch-free ham is not all lean meat, it also contains starch, but the content is less; Jinhua ham has a very high salt content, so you should eat less of it.

Processed meat products have a certain carcinogenic risk. Processed meat products such as bacon, sausage, and ham have been listed as Class 1 carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) under the WHO.

Eat less if possible, and eat something occasionally to satisfy your craving. It is also recommended to pair it with fresh fruits and vegetables to reduce the impact on your health.

References:

[1] .GB/T 20712-2006 Ham Sausage http://down.foodmate.net/standard/yulan.php?itemid=11009

[2]. Yang Yuexin. Chinese Food Composition Table 6th Edition Volume 2[M]. Peking University Medical Press, 2018

[3]. Chinese Nutrition Society. Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents[M]. People's Medical Publishing House, 2016

This article was first published on the Science Refutation Platform