By Monte Reel
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
LA PLATA, Argentina -- The quest for the perfect hamburger, as any ambitious barbecuer knows, is an exact science. And science is all about trial and error.
"How many hamburgers have we made?" says Noemi Zaritzky, head of Argentina's Center for Research and Development in Food Cryotechnology. "In total, you mean?"
She's stumped, as are two lab-coated co-workers who have coordinated research to develop a healthful hamburger that actually tastes better than a hiking boot. They sigh and scan the high corners of the room, vainly trying to recall how many prototypes they've consigned to the biohazard bin in the past two years.
They explain the basics: 40 hamburgers for each formulation. Hundreds of formulations to test microbiological reactions, oxidation, texture, taste . . .
"A lot of burgers," summarizes Silvina Andrés, a biochemist who helped lead the project.
The result is a lean beef burger that is low-fat, low-sodium and juicy, without saturated fat, and that tastes -- according to limited consumer tests -- as though it probably shouldn't be good for you.
Essentially, what the scientists have done is take the beef fat out of the meat and replace it with a combination of substitutes less likely to clog arteries. Those substitutes include high oleic sunflower oil and fats from seafood rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which many studies suggest benefit cardiovascular health. They also added phytosterols to the mix -- a byproduct of soybeans that can lower the body's cholesterol absorption.
Because no wheat products are used as filler, the scientists said, the hamburger is also safe for people who can't ingest glutens.
"The taste is very similar to a regular hamburger because the oils and fats we've added -- even the seafood oils -- are neutral in taste and smell," said Alicia Califano, another chemist who developed the burger recipe. "But if you tried to make a hamburger this lean at home, it would be really hard and dry."
The hamburger, of course, is an icon of American cuisine, so Argentina might not seem like a logical laboratory for advanced hamburger studies. But when the scientists began working on their recipes, they were convinced that it was a worthy experiment for a few important reasons:
· The average Argentine in 2006 consumed more than 140 pounds of beef, according to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. None of the other nationalities studied consumed even half that amount, with the exception of Americans, who consumed an average of 97 pounds.
· More Argentines are eating hamburgers as fast-food options chip into the country's more traditional beef products, such as steaks and breaded milanesas.
· Argentines have one of the highest levels of heart disease in the world, according to the American Heart Association.
The scientists said they tried to tailor their research to take advantage of some of Argentina's other idiosyncrasies. Even though Argentines eat very little fish and few soybean products, there's an abundance of both here -- the seafood and soy farming industries have exploded since 1990 and now rival beef production in terms of national export income.
It was a post-graduate student at the National University of Mar del Plata who originally came up with the idea for the good-for-you-burger project. Zaritzky's team of researchers -- who are based at the National University of La Plata -- coordinated the lab work and tests.
"We had been working on trying to develop healthier sausages here for several years, so we were able to transfer some of that research to the hamburger project," Andrés said. "That allowed us to come up with results faster than we would have otherwise."
In a boxy building about an hour outside of Buenos Aires, more than 100 researchers in white coats mill around test tubes, big-bellied flasks and centrifuges, working on food-related science projects that are funded in part by the Argentine government.
The biggest trick to developing the burger, the researchers said, was getting the texture right, without creating a chemical composition that causes rapid oxidation of lipids, which can ruin the quality of the meat.
"It's sort of a game to find the right balance. . . . We have to play around with a lot of different combinations," Zaritzky said.
They first tested the finished product on colleagues around the lab. Then they compiled a group of about 40 nonprofessional tasters, presented them with a variety of samples and invited them to dig in.
"They liked it a lot," Andrés said.
But it can't yet be bought in a supermarket. The future of the project lies in negotiating with a company to mass-produce the burgers, Zaritzky said.
"It's already getting a lot of interest," she said. "I suppose it's because the hamburger has always been considered junk food. The idea of one that's good for you sounds contradictory."
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