If minced meat appears on the shopping list and we are in a supermarket, we have a problem. Those classic trays look like minced meat, but in reality neither by composition nor legally they are. Those who are patient and perhaps have a magnifying glass will be able to verify on the label that the word meat is not printed anywhere and that they speak of burger meat at all times. Indeed, hamburger meat, but here it is not worth translating to understand what exactly we are buying. Another one of those industry tricks to fool us, or just some convoluted legislation around what we commonly call mincemeat?
It is nothing new, meat preparations have never had a good reputation. Around sausages and company there is always the suspicion -sometimes well-founded, other times not- that almost anything goes and that quality meat will not appear in the top positions on the list of ingredients. And, as the OCU pointed out a few years ago, it does not seem an unfounded fear because a 2015 study gave a very bad general grade to the minced meat trays that could be found in supermarkets.
Actually, that was not the correct definition. As he recalled two years later, in 2017, minced meat can only be called the product made with, surprise, meat and subjected to a mincing process. What they sell, they pointed out, is burger meat, a preparation that includes other ingredients (cereals, vegetables), as well as additives and preservatives.
His recommendation was forceful: if you want quality, it is best to ask the butcher for a piece of minced meat at the moment. The commotion was tremendous, but as usually happens, the intensity of alarmism is usually inversely proportional to memory. So it is very possible that almost six years later we have forgotten what we are buying at the supermarket.
As always, nothing better than turning to science and legislation so that you do not panic when you hear about additives, or that meat is not 100% meat. Miguel Ángel Lurueña -Graduated in Food Science and Technology and better known on networks as @gominolasdepetroleo- helps us review the lesson.
“As the name suggests, minced meat is simply meat that has undergone a physical mincing process. It cannot contain other ingredients, except salt, in a maximum proportion of 1%”, he explains. On the contrary, the burger meat is a meat preparation that is made with minced meat and a minimum of 4% of cereals or other vegetables, and that usually contains sulphites for its preservation”.
This product is the one found in the vast majority of supermarkets and, therefore, will contain a maximum of 96% meat. To check it, you will have to do that healthy exercise when you go shopping: read the label and see the percentage of meat it includes and what other ingredients have been used in the mix.
Royal Decree 474/2014 is the one that classifies, among others, these meat products and establishes three categories. To the already mentioned “minced meat” and burger meat, a third option is added that, to be honest, does not help much for the consumer to have things clear. And it is that it is the “hamburger”. In this case, it is meat that cannot contain additives or preservatives, but to which seasonings (salt, pepper…) and natural antioxidants can be added.
In this case, it is – explains Lurueña – meat preparations, another of the names that may appear on the label. In other words, the classic ready-made hamburgers may not be burger meat, but rather this product, whose expiration date is shorter, about 72 hours.
“What makes the difference between some products and others is the use of sulfites, which is what determines the product’s requirements, because they can be used in burger meat and not in other meat preparations. So, when they are used you have to add at least 4% vegetables”, he points out.
In any case, it is a question of quality and legal definition, not of food safety. The use of sulfites and other additives is completely safe, although there is a caveat: “regular consumption may exceed the dose that is considered safe, especially in adolescents,” warns Lurueña.
The more meat the better? A priori yes because that is what we want to buy. If the cuts and pieces used for chopping are of good quality, that is another matter. In any case, the percentage of real meat does not seem like a minor issue if one takes into account that in the aforementioned study carried out by the OCU, in some burger meat the amount of meat was only 70% of the preparation.
Of course, the expiration will be much shorter in the case of real minced meat, which will have to be consumed or frozen within 24 hours. The preparations or hamburgers can last a little longer, up to three days, while the burger meat has longer expiration dates.
