Do You Know Where Your Food Comes From?

It sounds like a silly question initially, until you really begin to think about it. I'm not talking about candy, snack food or desserts. I'm talking about the meats you purchase from your local grocer.

When you go to your local supermarket to purchase beef, seafood, pork, poultry and veal, the only thing you know is what the food looks like and the price it's selling for. But do you have any idea what transpired from the time the animals were raised to when the food is sitting on the shelf ready to go into your shopping cart?

For instance, how were the animals raised and treated on the farm? What did they eat? Were they injected with steroids, growth hormones, or antibiotics? What are the processing facilities like? Are they clean? How was the meat processed? How long did the cut meat sit before it was frozen? How long did it take to get from the processor to the store, i.e. how old is the food? How long has the food been on the grocery store shelf? Was the food USDA inspected? Does the facility should have a full time USDA inspector onsite? These are very important questions regarding what you place into your mouth each day.

If you a health conscious consumer you should know what the quality of the meats are before you purchase them. If you care about what your food tastes like, you should also want to know what the quality of the meat is. The finest restaurants and hotels purchase all natural, all organic, no hormones, no steroids, all USDA Prime and Upper 2/3 Choice meats (top 4% quality of all meats in the world) with no fillers added.

Some discount chains claim their meats are Choice cuts however there are different levels of Choice cuts. Many who claim their meat is Choice typically provide Choice cuts, however they are not the top of the line in terms of meat quality. The Upper 2/3 Choice cut is in top 4% of all meats in the world. At the low end of the quality scale is the Low Grade Select which is what typical supermarkets and discount chains carry. If your food doesn't taste that great maybe it's not your cooking, maybe it's the quality of the meat you're purchasing. If your main concern is price and you like eating shoe leather, this is the grade you'll want to get.

Do you know if the seller owns their own cattle? Probably not! Are there a number of in-between handlers of the meat? This implies a loss of control of the process and excessive time before it reaches the consumer. The greater the time in transportation means the less fresh the meat is.

You should know the origin of the beef you buy. For example, when it comes to beef, what do the cattle eat? Is it natural food or processed chemicals? Are they raised all natural and organically? The best quality meats are organic meaning there's no hormones, no steroids, no artificial ingredients and no fillers. Remember, you are what you eat!

What about the breed of the cattle? Certain breeds taste better. Is it domestically farmed meaning tighter controls? Is it the top of the line Black Angus or some other breed? Does the cattle rancher use non-invasive DNA testing to insure their cattle is pure bred (hair follicle DNA testing)? If the breed is specific, the taste will be repeatable.

Packaging is critical to locking in freshness. Conventional grocery store packaging is typically meat in a polystyrene foam "boat" or tray, covered with clear wrap and meat surrounded by air. Have you ever wondered what's in that surrounding air? Well, it's whatever was in the air at the processing plant. Yuck!

Do you think the surrounding air is beneficial for the meat? A good processor will immediately vacuum pack the meat then flash freeze it to lock in the freshness and remove any surrounding air. This should be done in seconds, not hours or days. Properly packaged food should last up to 12 months in your freezer and up to 7-14 days in your refrigerator.

How long was the meat at room temperature before freezing? Think about how healthy the meat is if this takes a few hours or even days to freeze it. Typically grocery store meats go bad after about 3 weeks in your freezer. And no matter what you do to tenderize it, it still tastes like shoe leather. It's not your cooking that makes the meat tough, it's because the meat is not cared for properly.

Underneath the meat is typically a piece of foam sponge. It's called a diaper and it absorbs the water that comes from the meat. Why the water? It's because the meat is sold by weight and they inject it with water to increase the weight in order to make more profit. Diapers can carry bacteria and soak up the precious juices of the meats. Meats should never be injected with water and a sponge diaper should never be necessary if the meat is packaged properly.

If you purchase so called "fresh" meat from your grocer, it's refrigerated but not frozen. So you take it home, remove it from its packaging, place it in a zip-loc bag (more air surrounding the meat), then place it in your freezer. It takes 12-24 hours for the meat to freeze which also contributes to the decay in the meat freshness. The air and residual moisture results in "freezer burn" meaning the meat might not be fresh. Freezer burn contributes to the average household throwing away $500-$600 of food per year resulting in unnecessary wasted cost. Blast freezing removes all surrounding air and keeps bacteria out allowing the meat to thaw in your refrigerator for up to 14 days rather than 2-3 days using conventional packaging.

Certain shoppers will always be attracted to price regardless of safety or quality concerns. The smart consumer who cares about their health should know where their food comes from and are willing to make a short term investment in that area in order to guarantee long term benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

In conclusion, the health conscious consumer that looks for the key differentiating factors listed above should not be purchasing their food from their local discount grocery store. Those who enjoy great restaurant quality meats can taste the difference and they know where their food comes from.

Authored by,

Chris Crawford
Rastelli Direct
Independent Business Partner

5-Star Restaurant Quality Food Delivered to your Doorstep at affordable pricing! Rastelli Direct™ is a family of world-class providers of fine foods setting the standard in quality and cleanliness in their processing facilities. The Rastelli Brands continue to service the top restaurants, steakhouses, resorts, and fine dining establishments across the globe including the world's only 7-star Burj Al Arab Hotel.

Website: http://www.rastellidirect.com/eat4free

Learn How to Eat for Free: http://www.eat5star4free.com