Peerless steak recruitment

Because the "original-cut static marinated steak" was called "original-cut steak" during the live broadcast, the food blogger "Beckham Hungry" with tens of millions of fans recently issued a statement saying that there was no quality problem in the related products, and the statement of "original-cut steak" was a slip of the tongue, saying that relevant departments had intervened and were actively cooperating with the investigation.

The live broadcast of "Beckham Hungry" once again revealed the complexity of steak products. What is the original cut steak? How to distinguish marinated steak, prepared steak, full-cut steak, filet mignon, eye steak, sirloin steak and even minced steak? How to define and choose grain-fed steaks and M5 steaks? I'm afraid these concepts are difficult for non-professionals to understand.

According to insiders, steaks are mainly divided into original cut steaks and cooked steaks. The ingredients of the original cut steak are only beef. Generally, seasonings, food additives and other accessories are added to the prepared steak for conditioning and processing. Preparing steaks is "learned", and it is possible to buy "spliced steaks" or even fake steaks from other meat sources.

In view of the current situation of the steak market, the Beijing News reporter recently visited the market and found that some e-commerce merchants put the words "original cut steak" in the search keywords of the prepared steak products, and offline channel products put the slogan "original cut steak" on the prepared steak packaging, which made consumers confused. In addition, there are merchants selling "spliced steaks", and the price is only 6.39 yuan.

"Original-cut static marinated steak" is called "original-cut steak"

The source of meat is the original cut meat, and the process is to stand and marinate. In the live broadcast, "original cut steak with gravy" was called "original cut steak" several times. What's wrong with the food blogger "Beckham is hungry"?

Liu, a member of the Food Safety Committee of the Shanghai Food Society, recently explained in a popular science article published by the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee that steaks on the market in China are mainly divided into two types: original cut steaks and cooked steaks. The original cut steak refers to the steak that is only physically divided and packaged without adding any auxiliary materials, that is, "pure beef"; Conditioning steak is usually made by adding extra water, condiments and food additives to beef for pickling and rolling.

According to the definition of light industry standard QB/T5442-2020 "Steak", "original cut steak" refers to a block meat product made of fresh and frozen beef, which is trimmed, frozen, sliced, mixed with convenient seasonings and packaged. "Cooked steak" refers to a block of cooked meat products made of fresh and frozen beef, supplemented by auxiliary materials, trimmed, pickled, shaped, frozen, sliced, mixed with convenient seasonings and packaged.

As can be seen from the above definition, the original cut steak has not been processed with auxiliary materials. The "original steak" broadcast live on "Beckham is hungry" belongs to the category of prepared steak because it has been cured. Although it is only two words less than "original cut steak", its category is different.

In addition to the differences in technology and ingredients, there are also differences in nutritional components and prices between the original cut steak and the prepared steak. The Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee recently conducted a comparative test on 23 kinds of steaks, and found that the protein content of the original cut steak was between16.7g/100g-22.9g/100g, and the average content was about 20g/ 100g. The protein content of the prepared steak is between 9.42g/100g-13.9g/100g, and the average content is about12.1g/100g, which is about 60% of the original cut steak.

The comparative test also found that the protein measured values of the two kinds of prepared steaks were 64% and 77% of the marked values, respectively, which did not meet the requirement that the measured values were ≥ 80% of the marked values in GB28050 "General Principles for Nutrition Labeling of National Food Safety Standards in prepackaged foods". The measured fat values of four kinds of prepared steaks are only 65438 02%, 29%, 43% and 56% of the marked values respectively. Among them, for the sample of 1 western medicine, the measured value in protein is 9.42g/ 100g, accounting for 64% of the marked value, and the measured value of fat is 1.2g/ 100g, accounting for 43% of the marked value, which is lower than the average content of cooked steak.

In order to compare steak prices, the Beijing News reporter also counted 13 steaks of 8 brands sold in offline channels, which were converted into 100g unit price. The prices of four kinds of original cut steaks range from 20 yuan to 75 yuan, and the prices of five kinds of prepared steaks with the slogan of "full cut" and "original cut" range from 1 1.4 yuan -35.3 yuan. Generally speaking, the more non-beef ingredients added in the ingredient list, the lower the price.

"Full cut" and "original cut" charming eyes

According to the above statistics of 13 steaks, the Beijing News reporter also found that four of the nine kinds of prepared steaks were marked with the slogan of "full cut" on the product packaging. Among them, "Box Horse" wet-boiled dry-cured corn feed eye meat steak emphasizes "completely cutting the original part of the eye meat" on the packaging, "Tahiti" vanilla black pepper fully cut sirloin steak shows "full cut feeling" on the packaging, and "Tahiti" cooked sirloin steak emphasizes "100% no splicing, completely cutting the original meat" on the packaging, and "Shengnong" is a famous family.

Some steak products are marked with the slogan of "full cut" on the packaging. Photo by Guo Tie, chief reporter of Beijing News

Although none of these 9 steaks directly uses the word "original cut" in the product name, the package of "Ye Hao" children's deep-cooked filet mignon claims "original cut steak" and "Angus beef is dry-cooked for 600 days to 14 days". The ingredient list shows that the ingredients are beef and edible salt, and the product category is dish products, but it is actually a prepared steak.

"Ye Hao" children's fried filet mignon claims to be "original cut steak". Photo by Guo Tie, chief reporter of Beijing News

In response to this steak claim, on June 5438+065438+ 10/5, Mr. Zheng, the relevant person in charge of Shanghai Food Sales Co., Ltd., replied to the Beijing News reporter that his "original cut" claimed that the meat had not been rolled, "it was like this, and it was cut with a knife." Original cut steak is not defined in the dictionary, and "original cut" itself is also a foreign word. There is no mandatory standard in China, and there is no such project. In the industry, as long as the steak is cut into its original shape, it will be cut. The ingredients list is added according to national standards, and we have marked the dishes. "

Similarly, many merchants on the e-commerce platform type the words "original steak" in the product keywords, but it is actually a prepared steak. For example, the Downton Manor steak sold by the merchant "100% Taste Restaurant" is a dish, and there are many ingredients such as soy protein isolate and food additives in the ingredient list, but the merchant typed the words "fresh original cut steak" in the keyword. The "peerless selection of sirloin steak" sold by the merchant "Western Kitchen Cuisine" is also a kind of prepared steak, and the words "fresh cut beef" and "home-cooked full-cut marinated steak" are confused at the same time.

A piece of "spliced steak" is only 6.39 yuan.

Sometimes it is not enough to distinguish steak only by product name and ingredient list. A frozen product dealer told the Beijing News reporter that five or six years ago, it was very common to process "spliced steak" with ground beef, which was welcomed by western restaurants and other places because of its low price. Many factories specialize in producing this "special edition" steak for restaurants. In order to pursue high profits, many small factories use a lot of duck meat as the main raw material, supplemented by ground beef or essence to reduce costs and produce fake steaks.

Mr. Liao, who is engaged in beef processing business, told the Beijing News reporter that the original cut steak has not undergone any processing, even if the product only adds a small amount of salt and water, it is also a prepared steak, which is "learned". From the supplier's point of view, the best steak is the static marinated steak. The meat is cut piece by piece, with only a small amount of salt, water or other ingredients, and the ingredients are simple. Followed by full-cut steak, the meat is cut piece by piece, but the ingredients are more than the static braised steak. Its advantages are tender taste and relatively low cost. Further down is the "spliced steak", some of which are made of ground beef combined with food additives, and the worst is made of chicken, pork and other meats. However, the current situation of steak fraud has been significantly reduced.

Beijing News reporter inquired that 1kg Angus Valley feed material steak scraps imported from Australia, the wholesale price is 37 yuan -46 yuan. However, a chilled Australian beef M5 filet mignon sold by Shangchao costs 200g 149.9 yuan. A seller said that most of the scraps were cut from the raw materials of eye feed meat in Angus Valley, Australia. "The large package without water injection and splicing is cost-effective, suitable for fried steak, barbecue, western restaurant and home cooking. You can contact the restaurant business separately. "

The price of a 200g chilled Australian beef M5 filet mignon is 149.9 yuan. Photo by Guo Tie, chief reporter of Beijing News

Another merchant sells a black pepper steak online, and the price of 10 slices is only 63.9 yuan. According to the "Agricultural Products Wholesale Price 200 Index" released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in June11April, the wholesale price of beef reached 77.83 yuan/kg. Mr. Zhang, the person in charge of the business, said frankly that this kind of steak is a "spliced steak", so the price is cheap, and the price of the original cut steak is even higher than that of 8 yuan. The store also sells marinated full-cut steaks, and the price is between "spliced steak" and original cut steak.

The price of a black pepper steak 10 is 63.9 yuan. Photo by Guo Tie, chief reporter of Beijing News

Regarding how to distinguish "spliced steaks", Mr. Liao admits that it cannot be accurately judged from the product ingredient list. "An important function of conditioning steak, such as soy protein and carrageenan, is to keep the moisture in the meat and make the steak more tender. You can't judge it is a spliced steak just because these ingredients are in the ingredient list. From the price point of view, if the original cut steak sells the price of the prepared steak, be careful. From the appearance, the texture of the original cut steak or the full cut steak is relatively regular, and the texture of the spliced steak is chaotic, so it is impossible to splice a complete texture. "

202 1 Shenzhen Consumer Council conducted a comparative test on 15 kinds of prepared steaks. The results showed that clenbuterol and other animal-derived ingredients except beef were not detected in all samples, that is, no adulteration was found. The Consumer Council of Shenzhen also reminded that ingredients such as soy protein isolate, carrageenan and transglutaminase can be used in food. As long as it is used according to the standard, it will not cause harm to human health. Having these ingredients does not necessarily mean that it is a "spliced/synthetic steak". The purpose of adding them is to optimize the tenderness and taste of steak and make it easier to chew and digest.

Liu, vice president of bohai university College of Food Science and Engineering, said in an interview with the Beijing News that the raw materials used in the qualified "spliced steak" are not necessarily minced meat, but may also be due to the need of processing technology to cut large pieces of meat into small pieces for reorganization. "However, it is illegal to use the spliced steak as the original cut steak, or it contains raw materials such as chicken and pork but is not marked according to the regulations, which is a commercial fraud."

The standard of "steak" needs to be improved

In fact, at present, there is no mandatory standard for the classification of steaks and products in China. The classification of "original cutting", "full cutting" and "conditioning" is mostly established in the industry, and the words "reorganization" and "splicing" are not required for "spliced steaks".

Judging from the implementation standards, the recommended standards of GB2707-20 16 "National Food Safety Standards for Fresh Livestock and Poultry Products" or GB/T 17238 "Fresh and Frozen Cut Beef" are mostly implemented at present. However, the standard of SB/T 10379-20 12 "Quick-frozen prepared food" is mostly applicable to prepared steak, while the local standard of Shanghai DB 31/2016-2021"Prepared Meat Products" is applicable to some products. These two standards only limit the sensory requirements and microorganisms of prepared meat products.

In 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the quality grades of light industry standards QB/T5442-2020 steak and QB/T5443-2020 steak, defined the original cut steak and the prepared steak, and stipulated the physical and chemical indexes such as moisture, protein, starch and volatile base nitrogen. The moisture content in the original cut steak shall not exceed 77g/ 100g, and there is no restriction on protein and starch. The moisture content in the prepared steak should not exceed 82g/ 100g, and the moisture content in protein should not be lower than 12g/ 100g. However, according to market visits, there are not many steak products that implement these two standards at present.

Regarding the rating of steaks, according to the explanation of Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee, Australian steaks and steaks often adopt the "M+ number" rating method, where "M" refers to the fat in the muscle. Usually, the greater the M number, the higher the fat content and the higher the price. "Grain feeding" refers to the feeding method of wheat, corn and other grains, and "day" refers to the fattening time of grain-fed cattle. The more days, the richer the marbling of steak, the better the taste and the higher the price. As for the "filet mignon", "eye meat" and "cold cut" commonly used by consumers, they are taken from different parts of cattle, and their meat quality and taste are different.

Australian steaks and steaks are graded by "M+ numbers". Photo by Guo Tie, chief reporter of Beijing News

In May, 20021year, China Meat Association held a seminar on the first draft of "original cut steak and its quality grade" and "prepared steak and its quality grade". It was mentioned at the meeting that the prepared steak is more suitable for the eating habits of China consumers than the original cut steak. However, additives such as tender meat powder, transglutaminase, quality improver, seasoning and so on will be used in the processing of prepared steak, so consumers have some misunderstandings about prepared steak products in the market. The main factor determining the quality grade of raw-cut steak is the fat content of steak and its uniform distribution in muscle, and the decisive factor is the fattening process of cattle. According to the existing relevant standards in China, there is still room for improvement in the quality control of the above two steaks.

In view of the above problems, China Meat Association organized relevant industry experts and business leaders to discuss the processing technical requirements, standard terminology, sensory indicators, physical and chemical indicators, microbial limits and other indicators and inspection methods in the existing standards, trying to adjust and revise some contents in the existing standards, so as to make the production technology of prepared steak and fattening technology of cattle reach advanced controllability.

Li Yan, chief reporter of Beijing News and editor of Guo Tie