MEAT PRODUCT

1 . A meat product comprising

(a) uncooked meat;

(b) acerola [ Malpighia emarginata ] berry, acerola [ Malpighia emarginata ] berry extract or mixtures thereof; and

(c) green tea [ Camellia sinensis ], green tea [ Camellia sinensis ] extract or mixtures thereof.

2 . A meat product according to claim 1 wherein the uncooked meat is red meat.

3 . A meat product according to claim 1 wherein the uncooked meat is selected from pork, beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, veal, rabbit, venison, horse, goat, and fish.

4 . A meat product according to claim 1 wherein the uncooked meat is selected from whole muscle, ground muscle or minced muscle.

5 . A meat product according to claim 1 wherein the uncooked meat is minced beef.

6 . A meat product according claim 1 wherein the uncooked meat is beef having a fat content of less than 30 wt. % based on the weight of the uncooked meat.

7 . A meat product according to claim 1 comprising acerola [ Malpighia emarginata ] berry extract.

8 . A meat product according to claim 1 comprising acerola [ Malpighia emarginata ] berry extract in an amount to provide ascorbic acid in an amount of least 1 ppm based on the total weight of the meat product.

9 . A meat product according to claim 1 comprising acerola [ Malpighia emarginata ] berry extract in an amount to provide ascorbic acid in an amount of no greater than 300 ppm based on the total weight of the meat product.

10 . A meat product according to claim 1 comprising green tea [ Camellia sinensis ] extract.

11 . A meat product according to claim 1 comprising green tea [ Camellia sinensis ] extract in an amount to provide catechins in an amount of at least 100 ppm based on the total weight of the meat product.

12 . A meat product according to claim 1 comprising green tea [ Camellia sinensis ] extract in an amount to provide catechins in an amount of no greater than 300 ppm based on the total weight of the meat product.

13 . A meat product according to claim 1 wherein the green tea extract is a tea polyphenol.

14 . A meat product according to claim 1 wherein the green tea extract is a catechin.

15 . A meat product according to claim 1 wherein the green tea extract is a compound selected from

and mixtures thereof.

16 . A meat product according to claim 1 wherein the meat product is packaged under a modified atmosphere.

17 . A meat product according to claim 16 wherein the modified atmosphere contains oxygen in an amount of less than 1%.

18 . A meat product according to claim 1 comprising a further plant extract selected from hops extract, vanillin, cinnamon extract, pinbark extract, grape extract, grape seed extract, orange extract, plum extract, camu camu extract ( Myrciaria dubia ), resveratrol, pinosylvin, horse chestnut, yucca extract, pomegranate, acai, bilberry and citrus bioflavonoids.

19 . A process for preventing or inhibiting the discoloration of uncooked meat, the process comprising the step of contacting

(a) uncooked meat;

with

(b) acerola [ Malpighia emarginata ] berry, acerola [ Malpighia emarginata ] berry extract or mixtures thereof; and

(c) green tea [ Camellia sinensis ], green tea [ Camellia sinensis ] extract or mixtures thereof.

20 . A process according to claim 19 wherein (b) and (c) are contacted simultaneously with the uncooked meat.

21 . A process according to claim 19 wherein (b) and (c) are contacted sequentially with the uncooked meat.

22 . A process according to claim 19 wherein (b) and/or (c) are provided in a buffer having a pH of from 5 to 7.

23 . A process according to claim 19 wherein (b) and (c) are provided as a composition containing (b) and (c) and wherein the composition containing (b) and (c) is contacted with the uncooked meat.

24 . A process according to claim 19 wherein (b) and/or (c) are dispersed in propylene glycol.