3 On Your Side: Things To Know About Tenderized Meat
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Summer is in full swing, but before you throw steaks on the grill for your next cookout you might want to listen up.
Teri Gault stocks up on beef whenever it's on sale, but what she didn't know until recently is that some of the steaks and roasts on store shelves have been mechanically tenderized during processing. She says, "I had no idea. I don't mind meat being tenderized but I need to know about it because it does bear on how I'm going to cook it."
Experts say Teri has the right idea. When beef is mechanically tenderized, needles or blades are used to break down the connective tissue in the meat, allowing for a more tender product. The potential issue, according to the U.S.D.A's Alfred Almanza, "Basically the process is such that if there are pathogens present it will drive them into the inner muscle, and you just can't tell by looking at products whether they're mechanically tenderized or not."
Chris Waldrop is with the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America. He says, "consumers need to know that this product is mechanically tenderized so they know they have to cook it differently. a mechanically tenderized steak needs to be cooked more thoroughly for sure."
Starting next year, the U.S.D.A. will require labels on all beef that has been mechanically tenderized. According to Almanza, "It will have two, two things on the label: number one it will have the cooking instructions, along with the rest time and it will also have the process in which it had been mechanically tenderized."
Waldrop believes the new labels are important, but, he says if you see one, it doesn't mean you should put the package down and buy something else. He says, "I don't think consumers need to avoid this product. I think they just need to cook it properly and the labeling and the instructions is going to help them do that."
The labeling rule goes into effect next May. In the meantime all steaks and roasts should be cooked to a 145 degree internal temperature with a three minute wait time before cutting into them. By the way, Costco has actually been voluntarily labeling the mechanically tenderized meat it sells for the past two years.
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