What kind of meat is in the beef balls that cost 9.9 yuan per pound?

Audit expert: Wang Guoyi

Postdoctoral fellow in Nutrition and Food Safety, China Agricultural University

As a loyal takeout lover, my favorite dish is spicy hot pot, where you can eat a variety of vegetables and a variety of "meats", such as beef balls, fish balls, crab sticks, chicken sticks, etc. Compared to fresh meat, these "frozen meats" are cheap, but they taste like meat.

However, in addition to being delicious and filling, the editor also considers health issues: Is there really meat in these "quick-frozen meats"? Is there any problem with eating them for a long time? I believe many people have the same questions as the editor. Let's take a look at the true face of these quick-frozen meats.

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia

Is there real meat in the meatballs?

Although most of these cheap meatballs have a distinctly starchy taste, they do contain a certain proportion of minced meat.

When you buy frozen meatballs, you can look at the ingredient list. Basically, they contain a certain amount of pork, chicken, duck or fish, as well as starch and various additives. The higher the meat is ranked, the higher the meat content is. The price varies with the meat content.

Strictly speaking, what the merchants make are not meatballs, but meatballs with meat flavor. In the production process, fresh or frozen meat or fish are usually beaten into minced meat. According to the "SB/T 10379-2012 Quick-frozen Prepared Foods", the main meat content of this type of product is: pork and chicken must be greater than or equal to 10%, and other meats must be greater than or equal to 8%.

Some businesses add chicken skin, pork fat, etc. to increase fat; add starch to make the meatballs elastic; add salt to increase the viscosity of the minced meat; and add various additives to keep the meatballs fresh, chewy, and delicious. In short, the cost of meatballs is reduced while maintaining the flavor.

Source: A shopping website

Although the ingredient list of quick-frozen meatballs is relatively complicated, as long as the ingredients and amounts meet national standards, they can be eaten with confidence.

Is there crab meat in crab sticks?

Meatballs barely have meat in them, but crab sticks and crab meat are really "dog meat under the guise of mutton", and neither of them contains real crab meat. The raw materials of crab sticks are mostly some kind of frozen fish paste or soy protein, which is then made into fish paste products in the form of sticks through various processes.

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia

Frozen surimi can be thawed quickly and then refrozen to achieve the filamentous texture of crab meat and provide a "seafood flavor"; the orange-red color of the outer layer, which resembles crab legs, is the result of food coloring. Starch and food flavors are added during the production process to make the crab sticks elastic and delicious.

Similarly, the fish balls, lobster balls, and fish tofu on the market are essentially fish paste or soy products. Although they are not very high-end, they are also convenient ingredients rich in protein and are fine for normal consumption.

How to choose meatball food?

Quick-frozen meat products have a long shelf life. Some people may worry that these foods use additives and preservatives. In fact, this is because they use low-temperature quick-freezing technology . Low-temperature quick-freezing is to freeze the prepared food at below -30°C, then store it in an environment of -18°C, and then achieve long-term shelf life. Finally, it is transported to the market through cold chain for sale. This technology can preserve the taste of food to the greatest extent.

Although the safety of quick-frozen foods is guaranteed during the production process, temperature changes during transportation and sale will cause the quick-frozen meat to thaw and then freeze again. This repeated process will cause microbial growth and the quality of the food will deteriorate.

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia

In stores, we often see frozen meatballs in bulk with a lot of frost in freezers. If customers open the refrigerator door repeatedly and leave them for a long time, these meatballs will be thawed and then frozen again, and over time they will become stale or even rot.

Therefore, consumers should pay attention to the following points when purchasing:

1. Try to choose foods from well-known brands. Relatively speaking, the production and testing mechanisms of large manufacturers are more stringent and the quality is guaranteed.

2. Choose products with complete packaging, clear shelf life and formula. Pay attention to the content of various ingredients in frozen foods. The meat content is generally linked to the price. You also need to pay attention to the fat and sodium content. Health-conscious friends can choose products with low calories and less salt.

3. Pay attention to the appearance and freezing degree of the food. Quick-frozen meat needs to be stored at -18℃, but some retail stores do not meet this condition, so its quality cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, it is best to choose to buy in stores and supermarkets with low-temperature freezers, and also observe the condition of the food when purchasing.

Source: A shopping website

In short, although quick-frozen meat is more delicious, its nutritional value is lower than that of fresh food. In addition, it is high in fat and salt, which is not good for health. Friends who like to eat can try to make their own hand-beaten meatballs, or buy more expensive pure meatballs to eat.