Would You Give This Food?

[Curley]

People worry about re frozen meat and yet those same people will eat fast food, fizzy pop, processed meats and cheeses, margarine and all sorts of "crap" full of artificial colouring, preservatives and sweetners.

Of course.... the government under pressure of lobbying by the food industry will allow all those. Did the meat industry also lobby that we should throw out anything at all doubtful and BUY some more?

Edited October 29, 2012 by Curley

[Curley]

If you really cannot bring yourself to give it to them or to cook it for them, why not wrap it up and let them see you put it in the rubbish just before you send them out on an errand?

[i am bob]

Thawing meat and then refreezing it will not normally contaminate it. This thought process comes from the days before refrigeration (ice house days) when we had butchers who would cut the meat and leave it sitting with the flies and other critters landing on it and laying their eggs. If it was warm enough, the eggs would hatch and spoil the meat - larvae crawling all around, etc. As for bacterial contamination? If the meat has not been sitting long enough to change colour at all, odds are it is good. I"ll get back to this in a second. So where did the contamination come from? Usually it's from contact with fecal matter (yeah - poop!). When the animal is butchered, small traces may be introduced into the meat you buy. Bacteria will grow from this. So any meat you get from the butcher shop may be contaminated - it's just that if you cook it (or freeze, thaw and then cook it) before enough bacteria reproduce, odds are you will kill this bacteria. So what does it mean when it changes colour? Green is obvious, right? It's been sitting so long that it is starting to break down naturally. Rot. Any zombies handy? But going a lighter colour? At first all this means is that the blood has drained around the cells - a normal thing but it will still begin to taste like ugh! And this is when not only the meat itself starts to rot but also the bacteria start to reproduce more. If it's a bad bacteria, that is not good. But still at this point, cooking will usually ensure the meat is edible. It's the knowing when to not eat it that is the hard part. One of the tricks I learned for beef (or any red meat) is to put 1 teaspoon of chlorine bleach into a gallon / 4 litres of water. Soak any meat that has gone a blah colour in this for 1 to 2 hours. If it comes back red, it is usually edible. If it doesn't, it's dead. If we are talking pork or chicken, it will change color quick enough to look bad or begin to smell to be reasonably sure. One thing to remember about smell... White meats will pick up smells from the freezer after a couple months. This doesn't mean that they are bad. Last thing? Freezer burn. This is where the water molecules have been forced out of the meat. It also sets it up for almost instant bacterial growth when thawed as well as taste like ugh if you cook using quick methods such as microwave. Freezer burned meat will often make you sick as it is as most people cannot digest this damaged protein source.

In my much younger days, I dated a young lady for a couple months. Her mother was a scientist with the Canadian government who specialized in commercial meat products. Mom loved to talk but her range of conversation would be either her daughter, husband or work. And, since I used to do a lot of the barbecuing for them, we ended up talking shop a lot.

[Mike S]

Eat it all yourself?

Nawwwwwww ... just thought about using it like the proverbial Christmas Fruit Cake ...... you know the one where someone gives it to you this year and you give it back to them next year etc. etc. ...... :hystery: :hystery:

Edited October 30, 2012 by Mike S

[Hosea]

When that was happening here in Davao, I told friends and family that the power company is regulated by the city. They can't just cut your power off more than six hours and they are suppose to warn you before it is due to be cut (brown outs). Blake outs is another thing. They pointed at the big malls putting up with it. I told them that wouldn't last long because of the money lost by these big companies because of another company like the power company that is regulated by the government. Sure enough. That stuff stopped. Filipinos tend to accept what those that seem to be in authority say. I tell family members that if they don't complain they will always be walked over. I remember a time in the US when it was the same. Not until people complained did things change. Of course because we are not from here it is best we are not the leaders in correcting this dilemma.

As far as people here eating bad meat.... I watch the baggers at the grocery store to make sure they don't put everything in the same bag as the fresh meats. They will put fruits, can goods and everything else in there. They don't seem to be aware of cross contamination here in the Philippines. My wife leaves food on the stove all day and serves it later. I refuse to eat it and won't let her feed it to our daughter. I think she is learning slowly but surely. She will no longer buy meats from the open market other than fish and because I refuse to eat food that sits out she ends up cooking more food so leaving food out has slowed somewhat as well.

One of these days we will get a generator for those times when the power goes out.