**Background:** The food industry increasingly seeks natural alternatives to synthetic antioxidants due to consumer concerns about potential health risks such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Natural antioxidants derived from plants (e.g., blueberry, broccoli, cinnamon, ginger, olives, oregano) offer preservative and bioactive benefits. This narrative review aims to document the current use of synthetic and natural antioxidants in the food industry, with emphasis on the meat industry, and to identify associated opportunities and risks.
**Methods:** The authors conducted a narrative review of the scientific literature, summarizing findings from numerous studies on synthetic antioxidants (e.g., BHA, BHT) and natural antioxidants (e.g., phenolic compounds, carotenoids, tocopherols, essential oils). They discuss mechanisms of action, regulatory frameworks (EU, FDA, EFSA), and applications in animal diets (swine, ruminants, poultry) and meat products. The review includes data from in vitro and in situ studies, as well as animal feeding trials.
**Key Results:** The review highlights that natural antioxidants can effectively delay lipid oxidation and improve meat quality. For example, rosemary extract at 200 ppm reduced TBARS and hexanal values in pork patties (Nissen et al.). Green tea extract at 200 ppm similarly reduced lipid oxidation in pork patties. In animal diets, supplementation with vitamin E (e.g., 200 IU alpha-tocopherol acetate/kg feed for 6 weeks) improved pork lipid stability (Guo et al.). In ruminants, vitamin E supplementation (500 mg/steer daily for 126 days) resulted in 3.4 μg α-tocopherol/g cooked Gluteus medius (Liu et al.). In poultry, oregano essential oil (100 mg/kg feed) and vitamin E (100 mg/kg) reduced malondialdehyde levels compared to lower vitamin E doses (Avila-Ramos et al.). However, some studies found no effect, e.g., grape extract in pig diets (O’Grady et al.). The review also notes that natural antioxidants can increase heavy metal residues and support mold growth, and that variability in composition and application methods limits reproducibility.
**Clinical Implications:** The use of natural antioxidants in animal diets and meat products offers a promising strategy to reduce reliance on synthetic additives, potentially lowering consumer exposure to harmful compounds. However, the lack of standardized regulations, variability in efficacy, and potential safety issues (e.g., heavy metals, mycotoxins) necessitate careful evaluation on a case-by-case basis. The review underscores the need for further research to establish safe and effective application protocols, and to balance the preservation of desirable sensory attributes (e.g., flavor from controlled lipid oxidation) with oxidative stability.