MORE THAN 300 Scottish farmers joined Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Richard Lochhead, for a healthier breakfast this morning, as Quality Meat Scotland unveiled its new low-fat, low-salt bacon at the NFUS agm in the Fairmont Hotel, St Andrews.

The production process to make the healthier bacon, which is 25% lower in salt and more than 20% lower in fat than industry average, was developed as part of a QMS project match-funded by Scottish Enterprise.

The £40,000 project has been investigating the potential to lower the salt and saturated fat content of eight traditional Scots favourites – including black pudding, sausages and Scotch Pies – while retaining the flavour that makes the products so popular.

To this end, QMS has been working with seven different meat producers and the Food Innovation team at Abertay University.

Mr Lochhead said: “Like many others I enjoy the occasional bacon roll, so this new bacon which is 20% lower in fat and has 25% less salt is good news for the industry – and our health!

“Recently we’ve seen healthier versions of burgers, sausages and even the famous Scotch pie being produced by the sector as it responds to consumer demand for healthier food choices as part of a balanced diet. It’s encouraging to see one of our breakfast favourites join the list and I look forward to seeing others in the future.”

NFU Scotland president, Jim McLaren, added: “Today has highlighted for us once again that the red meat sector in Scotland is focused on continuous improvement and innovation. By reducing the salt and fat content of a number of red meat products, whilst maintaining exceptional quality, this collaborative project further shows how red meat can be enjoyed as part of a healthy and balanced diet.”

QMS Health and Education co-ordinator, dietitian Jennifer Robertson, said a major challenge of the project had been the need to avoid compromising on the flavour which bacon, and the other Scottish favourites, are famed for.

“The development of this bacon involved a wet-curing process and the meat is cured with the skin intact. Through this process the skin absorbs some of the salt and the salt content of the bacon is then lowered when the skin is removed. Extra trimming of fat after the curing process creates a lower fat content.

“The result is bacon which has a salt content of 2.29g per 100g, comfortably below the Food Standard Agency’s 2012 salt target for bacon which is 2.88g per 100g,” said Ms Robertson.

Since becoming involved in QMS’ new product development project to develop the bacon formulation, Irvines of Perthshire has switched its entire wet cure bacon range to the new production method.

“The resulting lower salt bacon has proved so successful is now our standard product and the feedback we’ve had from customers has been very positive,” said Kenny Allan of Irvines.