5-18 FB 29 Cuts

 The villain behind the fat in beef.

 The  Idaho Beef Council and the Idaho Cattlemen’s Association have recently been touting their 29 cuts of lean beef. It’s so funny because I have had this  discussion with Frank Muir of the Idaho Potato Commission so many times. Potatoes are often vilified by nutritionists as being fattening. Frank and I have mused about the fact that it is not the potato itself, but in fact, all of the condiments that I put on the potato that makes it calorie rich. The potato it self is chock-full of vitamins and other elements that are extremely good for you. Now let’s talk beef. Is it fattening? Well, to answer that, listen in on a conversation I had the other day with Traci Bracco of the Idaho Beef Council. “Filet mignon, which is my favorite, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ounce of fat in it. It’s not. It is one of the leanest cuts that are out there. Where it can get a little higher in calories is when we slap on the add-ons on top of it but as far as that beef itself, is a lean cut that has  less than 10 g of total fat per serving and 4 1/2 g of saturated fat and you are right you don’t see that much marbling in that one. The perfect example is the potato. It’s very healthy until you add all the other condiments and that’s when the calories and fat content creep up and that is often the case with beef.