Ground beef

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Ground beef, minced beef or beef mince is beef that has been finely chopped with a knife, meat grinder (American English), mincer or mincing machine (British English). It is used in many recipes including hamburgers, bolognese sauce, meatloaf, meatballs, and kofta.

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It is not the same as mincemeat, which is a mixture of chopped dried fruit, distilled spirits, spices and historically (but present day rare) minced/ground meat. [1]

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Ground beef Hackfleisch-1.jpg
Ground beef

In many countries, food laws define specific categories of ground beef and what they can contain. For example, in the United States, beef fat may be added to hamburger but not to ground beef if the meat is ground and packaged at a USDA-inspected plant. [note 1] In the U.S., a maximum of 30% fat by weight is allowed in either hamburger or ground beef. The allowable amount in France is 5 to 20% (15% being used by most food chains). In Germany, regular ground beef may contain up to 15% fat while the special "Tatar" for steak tartare may contain less than 5% fat. Both hamburger and ground beef can have added seasoning, phosphate, extenders, or binders added, but no additional water is permitted. Ground beef is often marketed in a range of different fat contents to match the preferences of customers.

Ground beef is generally made from the less tender and less popular cuts of beef. Trimmings from tender cuts may also be used. [2]

In a study in the U.S. in 2008, eight brands of fast food hamburgers were evaluated for recognizable tissue types using morphological techniques that are commonly used in the evaluation of tissue's histological condition. [3] The study of the eight laboratory specimens found the content of the hamburgers included:

"Pink slime"

Ground beef in the United States may contain a meat-based product used as a food additive produced using technology known as advanced meat recovery systems or alternatively by using the slime system. Meat processing methods used by companies such as Beef Products, Inc. (BPI) and Cargill Meat Solutions produce lean, finely textured beef product, otherwise known as "pink slime," from fatty beef trimmings. This meat-based product is then treated with antimicrobial agents to remove salmonella and other pathogens, and is included in a variety of ground beef products in the U.S. [4] From 2001, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved the product for limited human consumption. In a 2009 article by The New York Times , the safety of the beef processing method used by BPI was questioned. [5] After the USDA's approval, this product became a component in ground beef used by McDonald's, Burger King and many other fast-food chains as well as grocery chains in the U.S. [5]

In government and industry records in testing for the United States' school lunch program, pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella were found dozens of times in meat from BPI, which raises questions about safety of the meat product and the effectiveness of the antimicrobial method used in meat recovery system of the company. Between 2005 and 2009, E. coli was found three times and salmonella 48 times. [5] BPI had a rate of 36 positives for salmonella per 1,000 tests, compared to a rate of nine positives per 1,000 tests for other suppliers for the program. [5] However, the program continued to source from BPI because its price was substantially lower than ordinary meat trimmings, saving about $1m a year for the program. [5] Cargill, among the largest hamburger makers in the U.S., is a big buyer of the meat-based product from BPI for its patties, according to the Times. [5] It suspended buying meat from two plants owned by BPI for several months in 2006 after excessive levels of salmonella were found. [5]

Cuts of beef

Although any cut of beef can be used to produce ground beef, chuck steak is a popular choice because of its rich flavor and meat-to-fat ratio. Round steak is also often used. In the United States, ground beef is usually categorized based on the cut and fat percentage: [6]

Culinary use

Ground beef is popular as a relatively cheap and quick-cooking form of beef. Some of its best-known uses are in hamburgers, sausages and cottage pie. It is an important ingredient in meatloaf, sloppy joes, meatballs, and tacos, and as a pizza topping. [7] It can be used to make meat sauces, for example, lasagna and spaghetti bolognese in Italian cuisine. In the Middle East, it is used to make spicy kofta and meatballs. The Scottish dish 'mince and tatties" uses it with mashed or boiled potatoes. In Lancashire, particularly Oldham, minced meat is a common filling for rag pudding. The Dutch slavink consists of ground meat (half beef, half pork) rolled in bacon.

Raw, lean, ground beef is used to make steak tartare, a French dish. More finely diced and differently seasoned, it is popular as a main course and as a dressing in Belgium, where it is known as filet américain ("American fillet").

Food safety

Food safety of ground meat is problematic; bacterial contamination occurs frequently. Undercooked hamburgers contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 were responsible for four deaths in the U.S. in 1993 and hundreds of people fell ill. [8] Ground beef must be cooked to 72 °C (160 °F) to ensure all bacterial contamination—whether it be endogenous to the product or contaminated after purchasing by the consumer—is killed. The color of cooked meat does not always indicate the beef has reached the required temperature; beef can brown before reaching 68 °C (155 °F). [9]

To ensure the safety of food distributed through the National School Lunch Program, food banks, and other federal food and nutrition programs, the United States Department of Agriculture has established food safety and quality requirements for the ground beef it purchases. A 2010 National Research Council report reviewed the scientific basis of the Department's ground beef safety standards, compared the standards to those used by large retail and commercial food service purchasers of ground beef, and examined ways to establish periodic evaluations of the Federal Purchase Ground Beef Program. [10] The report found that although the safety requirements could be strengthened using scientific concepts, the prevention of future outbreaks of foodborne diseases will depend on eliminating contamination during production and ensuring meat is properly cooked before it is served. [10]

The 2013 horse meat scandal found traces of horsemeat in many UK and European foods and ready meals which were labelled as being minced/ground beef products mostly.

See also

Notes

  1. These rules only apply to meat being sold across state lines. In the U.S., much ground beef is produced at local grocery stores and is not sold across state lines. In these cases, the laws of the local state apply; state laws may have different requirements.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beef</span> Meat from cattle

Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle. Beef can be prepared in various ways; cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often ground or minced, as found in most hamburgers. Beef contains protein, iron, and vitamin B12. Along with other kinds of red meat, high consumption is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer and coronary heart disease, especially when processed. Beef has a high environmental impact, being a primary driver of deforestation with the highest greenhouse gas emissions of any agricultural product.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamburger</span> Food consisting of a beef patty between rounded buns

A hamburger, also called a burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon or chilis with condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish or a "special sauce", often a variation of Thousand Island dressing and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger patty topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advanced meat recovery</span> Process of maximizing removal of meat from a carcass

Advanced meat recovery (AMR) is a slaughterhouse deboning process by which the last traces of skeletal muscle meat are removed from animal bones after the primal cuts have been carved off manually. The machinery used in this process separates meat from bone by scraping, shaving, or pressing the meat from the bone without breaking or grinding the bone. AMR meat typically is used as an ingredient in products requiring further processing, such as hot dogs. Unlike mechanically separated meat, AMR meat is comparable in appearance, texture, and composition to meat trimmings and similar meat products derived by hand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mechanically separated meat</span> Paste-like meat product

Mechanically separated meat (MSM), mechanically recovered/reclaimed meat (MRM), or mechanically deboned meat (MDM) is a paste-like meat product produced by forcing pureed or ground beef, pork, mutton, turkey or chicken under high pressure through a sieve or similar device to separate the bone from the edible meat tissue. When poultry is used, it is sometimes called white slime as an analog to meat-additive pink slime and to meat extracted by advanced meat recovery systems, both of which are different processes. The process entails pureeing or grinding the carcass left after the manual removal of meat from the bones and then forcing the slurry through a sieve under pressure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salisbury steak</span> American beef dish

Salisbury steak is a dish originating in the United States and made from a blend of ground beef and other ingredients, being considered a version of Hamburg steak. Today, Salisbury steak is usually served with a gravy similar in texture to brown sauce, along with various side dishes, such as mashed potatoes and cooked vegetables. It is a common menu item served by diners and is frequently available as a TV dinner in supermarket frozen food sections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Round steak</span> Cut of beef

A round steak is a beef steak from the "round", the rear leg of the cow. The round is divided into cuts including the eye (of) round, bottom round, and top round, with or without the "round" bone (femur), and may include the knuckle, depending on how the round is separated from the loin. This is a lean cut and it is moderately tough. Lack of fat and marbling makes round dry out when cooked with dry-heat cooking methods like roasting or grilling. Round steak is commonly prepared with slow moist-heat methods including braising, to tenderize the meat and maintain moisture. The cut is often sliced thin, then dried or smoked at low temperature to make jerky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Çiğ köfte</span> Middle Eastern raw meatball dish

Çiğ köfte or chee kofta is a kofta dish that is a regional specialty of southeastern Anatolia in Urfa. The dish is served as an appetizer or meze, and it is closely related with kibbeh nayyeh from Levantine cuisine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patty</span> Serving of chopped ingredients formed into a disc

A patty or burger is a flattened, usually round, serving of ground meat or legumes, grains, vegetables, or meat alternatives. Patties are found in multiple cuisines throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamburg steak</span> German patty of ground beef

Hamburg steak is a patty of ground beef. Made popular worldwide by migrating Germans, it became a mainstream dish around the start of the 19th century. It is related to Salisbury steaks, which also use ground beef. It is considered the origin of the ubiquitous hamburger, when, in the early 20th century, vendors began selling the Hamburg steak as a sandwich between bread.

Raw meat generally refers to any type of uncooked muscle tissue of an animal used for food. In the meat production industry, the term ‘meat’ refers specifically to mammalian flesh, while the words ‘poultry’ and ‘seafood’ are used to differentiate between the tissue of birds and aquatic creatures.

Empirical Foods, formerly named Beef Products Inc. (BPI), is an American meat processing company based in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota. Prior to high media visibility of its products, it was a major supplier to fast food chains, groceries and school lunch programs. It had three additional plants, which closed in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the hamburger</span>

Evidence suggests that the United States was the first country where two slices of bread and a ground beef patty were combined into a "hamburger sandwich" and sold. There is some controversy over the origin of the hamburger because its two basic ingredients, bread and beef, have been prepared and consumed separately for many years in both countries before their combination. Shortly after its creation, the hamburger quickly included all of its currently typically characteristic trimmings, including onions, lettuce, and sliced pickles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Food Safety and Inspection Service</span> U.S. federal government agency

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is the public health regulatory agency responsible for ensuring that United States' commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged. The FSIS draws its authority from the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906, the Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957 and the Egg Products Inspection Act of 1970. The FSIS also acts as a national health department and is responsible for the safety of public food-related establishments as well as business investigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink slime</span> Meat by-product

Lean finely textured beef is a meat by-product used as a food additive to ground beef and beef-based processed meats, as a filler, or to reduce the overall fat content of ground beef. As part of the production process, heat and centrifuges remove the fat from the meat in beef trimmings. The resulting paste, without the fat, is exposed to ammonia gas or citric acid to kill bacteria. In 2001, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the product for limited human consumption. The product, when prepared using ammonia gas, is banned for human consumption in the European Union and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ground turkey</span>

Ground turkey, or minced turkey, is a mixture of dark and light turkey meat with remaining skin and visible fat processed together until a "ground" form emerges. The turkey meat, skin, and fat is taken off the bone and processed with additives. The final product has specific characteristics that appeal to customers, including a non pink color and non crumbly texture. The composition of ground turkey is driven by market demand, availability, and meat prices. The majority of ground turkey is made from excess thighs and drumsticks rather than the more costly breast meat. Ground turkey is a common low-fat alternative for ground beef.

1992–1993 Jack in the Box <i>E. coli</i> outbreak Fast food disease outbreak

The 1992–1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak occurred when the Escherichia coli O157:H7 bacterium killed four children and infected 732 people across four US states. The outbreak involved 73 Jack in the Box restaurants in California, Idaho, Washington, and Nevada, and has been described as "far and away the most infamous food poison outbreak in contemporary history." The majority of the affected were under 10 years old. Four children died and 178 others were left with permanent injury including kidney and brain damage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steak</span> Flat cut of meat

A steak is a thick cut of meat generally sliced across the muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally grilled or fried. Steak can be diced, cooked in sauce, such as in steak and kidney pie, or minced and formed into patties, such as hamburgers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ground meat</span> Finely chopped meat

Ground meat, called mince or minced meat outside North America, is meat finely chopped by a meat grinder or a chopping knife. A common type of ground meat is ground beef, but many other types of meats are prepared in a similar fashion, including pork, veal, lamb, goat meat, and poultry.

References

  1. Jaron (January 12, 2021). "Minced Meat Vs Ground Meat – What's The Difference?". Foods Guy. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  2. "Ground Beef and Food Safety". Fsis.usda.gov. United States Department of Agriculture. August 6, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  3. Prayson, Brigid; McMahon, James T.; Prayson, Richard A. (2008). "Fast food hamburgers: what are we really eating?" (PDF). Annals of Diagnostic Pathology. 12 (6). Elsevier: 406–409. doi:10.1016/j.anndiagpath.2008.06.002. PMID   18995204. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 10, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  4. "Temperature Rules! - Cooking for Food Service" (PDF). Fsis.usda.gov. United States Department of Agriculture. October 12, 2011. Archived from the original on October 18, 2011. Retrieved April 25, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Moss, Michael (December 31, 2009). "Safety of Beef Processing Method Is Questioned". The New York Times . Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  6. "Ground Beef Category Breakdown". BeefRetail.org. National Cattlemen's Beef Association. July 18, 2009. Archived from the original on July 18, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. "Foods and Nutrition: Ground Beef" (PDF). Virginia Cooperative Extension Service.
  8. "Case Study: Jack in the Box E. coli crisis". The University of Oklahoma . Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  9. "FSIS Directive - Safe and Suitable Ingredients Used in the Production of Meat, Poulty, and Egg Products" (PDF). Fns.usda.gov. United States Department of Agriculture. March 9, 2010. Archived from the original on March 9, 2010. Retrieved April 25, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. 1 2 "An Evaluation of the Food Safety Requirements of the Federal Purchase Ground Beef Program". Dels.nas.edu. National Academy of Sciences, Division on Earth and Life Studies. 2010. Archived from the original on March 19, 2011. Retrieved November 11, 2015.