Most meat in the U.S. is tenderized using an interesting method with needles and blades, Bloomberg.com reported.
Regulators believe the method makes the meat more susceptible to infection with pathogens such as E. coli. Currently, meat does not have to be labeled when this method is used.
That's most likely to change, the U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed that in the near future all companies should be required to disclose if partially cooked or raw steaks, roasts, and other types of beef have been "mechanically tenderized."
The labels will, along with disclosing their tenderizing method, give the buyer instructions on how to properly cook the meat for optimal safety.
An increasing amount of meat packers have been using this mechanical method. Large needles are repeatedly jabbed into the cuts of meat to break down muscle fiber, sometimes juices or water are injected into the meat as well.
"Mechanically tenderized steaks and roasts look no different than non-tenderized cuts of meat, yet for safety, they must be cooked longer," Pat Buck, director of outreach at the Center for Food Borne Illness Research and Prevention, an advocacy group, said in a statement. "The USDA's own studies show that the tenderization process pushes pathogens into the interior of the meat."
Jeremy Russell, a spokesman for the Oakland, California-based North American Meat Association claimed the new label policy will hurt smaller meatpacking plants, who will have to order new labels. He also stated the meatpacking industry is still doing everything they can to keep E. coli, which is found in feces, out of their meat.
"The most important thing is to keep the pathogen out in the first place, and that's our focus," Russel said.
Recently, Costco, a warehouse-club chain, started adding labels to their meat instructing customers on how to properly cook it.
"Ensuring that consumers have effective tools and information is important in helping them protect their families against foodborne illness," Elisabeth Hagen, the USDA's undersecretary for food safety.
There have already been five outbreaks of food-borne illness that can be traced back to mechanical tenderizing since 2003.
