Ground Beef Myth Busting
With your Southeast Regional Ag News, I am Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network.
If you’ve got a social media account, it’s likely you’ve seen an image float across your screen at some point showcasing a difference in color of ground beef purchased at a grocery store vs. that from a local farmer or rancher. It’s a tempting narrative to buy into: good vs. bad. But that’s not the full story. Marination and Cured Meats Product Manager at JFT Food Tech David Hayden…
“The product you are buying from your farmer or rancher is typically packaged in what we call a ‘chub.’ It is a plastic casing with a pound of ground beef and a clip on the end. That packaging is not oxygen permeable, versus the store package that has a nice film over the top.”
He says it all comes down to science and adds that there is a tremendous amount of regulation around ground beef. Despite what social media posts may lead you to believe, what you’re finding at the grocery store is not pumped full of additives…
“No ground beef sold on the market straight from the source from your farmer or rancher or from the grocery store can have anything other than ground beef in it.
The USDA just will not allow it. That is part of the regulation around ground beef.”
Bottom line, ground beef is ground beef whether it comes from the store or direct from the producer.
