Many customers call us and ask about those white spots that appear on Iberian ham. They are generally found in the lean meat, sometimes between the meat and the fat. We are told that they look like small pebbles of salt or chalk.
The white spots on the ham are not accumulations of salt, insect eggs, nitrites or nitrates, or parasites. The white dots in ham are crystallizations of an amino acid, tyrosine.
Iberian pork is very rich in proteins, long chains of amino acids. Throughout the ham curing process, the protein chain is broken down and the amino acids of which it is composed are precipitated. This is how the white spots appear on the ham.
Is a ham with white spots better than a ham without them?
As we have said, these are tyrosine crystallizations and this is an indicator of a quality ham. It is very common to say that aham with white spots is an indicator of good quality ham.
In recent years, in-depth studies have been carried out on tyrosine crystallization and its relationship with good hams.
To date, no study has been able to conclude that a ham with a higher amount of tyrosine is a better ham than one with less crystallization. It has been concluded that the formation of these crystallizations occurs mainly in the higher temperature phase of the curing process.
It has been observed that the area of the ham with the greatest amount of crystallization is the ham skin and that the salt content in the curing process influences the appearance of these crystallizations. The greater the amount of salt, the fewer the crystals. The fresh freezing of the piece also has an influence.
What happens if I eat a ham with those little white dots?
Absolutely nothing happens. Tyrosine is an essential amino acid found in ham and many other foods such as cheese. These essential amino acids have their “unique” function, essential as their name suggests. Therefore, white dots are NOT harmful to health.
The best thing to do is to watch our explanatory video of our ham expert at ibericomio.es
