Award winning Forres butcher reduces salt content of sausages by 20%

Murdoch Brothers, is a third generation butchers and bakery established in Forres, Moray in 1916. The company pride themselves on using locally sourced meat and have won over 50 awards for their products including dry-cured bacon, black pudding and speciality sausages. The company recently won gold for its scotch pie in the Scotch Pie Club 2014 competition run annually by The Scottish Federation of Meat Traders and the Scottish Bakers.

Summary
Murdoch Brothers has reduced the salt content in their beef and pork sausage range by 20%.
This work to date has been achieved following successful trials of a new lower salt seasoning developed by Scottish based seasoning manufacturer, McAusland Crawford, and a no added salt rusk.

Where the project is delivered
Murdoch Brothers serves a large loyal customer base through its one shop in Forres, Moray and this is further extended by strong online sales. The wholesale side of the business supplies a number of major retailers across the UK.

Background
Chris Peace, SFDF's Industry Technical Manager, contacted the company's owners Graham and Ronnie Murdoch to offer reformulation assistance through SFDF's Scottish Government (Health) funded Reformulation Programme. This work involved reviewing a range of their best-selling products to give feedback on the nutrition content and opportunities for reformulation. Murdoch Brothers has previous product reformulation experience, having previously reduced the salt content in both the sausage roll and award winning scotch pie.

Process
During the recipe review an opportunity to reduce the salt content of the sausage range was identified to enable these products to meet the 2012 FSAS Salt Targets. Two methods to reduce the salt content were recommended – to lower the salt content of the seasoning and to switch the rusk that is used as a binder to a no added salt version.

Results and impact
The work to date has resulted in a 20% salt reduction in the beef and pork sausages. This was achieved following review work and trials of a new lower salt seasoning developed by Scottish based seasoning manufacturer, McAusland Crawford, and a no added salt rusk.

What's next?
Once this change has been successfully implemented, the company plans to trial the rusk in other products such as burgers and sausage rolls.

Business comment
Our aim is to continue to supply the quality and service that our grandfather did when he started the business in 1916. We now provide products for a modern and food educated customer base UK wide through a growing internet sales presence. Through SFDF's Reformulation Programme we have gained a greater understanding of the make-up and nutrition of our recipes, which will stand us in good stead for the future.