How do supermarkets keep meat fresh? By cutting only what is required for the day and closely monitoring and logging temperatures. Bacterial contamination increases after being cut or ground, resulting in shorter shelf life. Fresh meat is typically kept in grocery stores for 10-14 days.
“Fresh” beef may contain carbon monoxide.
While the above fact may cause you to want to only seek out “fresh, never frozen” beef, there could be additional risks involved with this approach. If you’ve ever wondered why grocery store beef maintains that bright red color so well, the answer is unfortunately tied to a common practice of treating the beef with carbon monoxide to slow oxidization. In fact, up to 70 percent of grocery store meat may contain added carbon monoxide — and while ingesting is a much lower risk than inhalation, this statistic is still undeniably unsettling.
Your turkey might contain harmful staph bacteria.
We know, it sounds nauseating – but these are the facts, according to a 2011 study in the Journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases that found dangerously high levels of staph bacteria in grocery store meats in the United States, including MRSA, which has the potential to be lethal. Among the meat tested, turkey was found to be the most dangerous, with nearly 80 percent of products found to contain staph bacteria. Since researchers concluded antibiotics overuse was the reason for this alarming statistic, seeking out antibiotic-free meat is one way to instantly lower your risks of contracting an infection.
Is the Meat at Your Grocery Store Actually Fresh?
FAQ
How old is the meat at the grocery store?
Should you buy meat from supermarket?
How long is grocery store meat aged?
What grade is meat from grocery store?
How long does grocery store meat last?
Grocery stores usually keep fresh meat for 10-14 days. However, frozen meat can last for up to 12 months. But you might also be wondering if grocery store meat is better than that from a butcher? Or how butchers keep meat fresh? Ultimately, how safe is the meat you eat, and what are the standards that grocery stores have to follow?
How many servings of lean meats should one have per day?
Ideally, each person consumes between 300 and 500 g of meat per week, which means a very small steak per day. This includes red and white meats such as chicken and fish, although they are less fatty.
Do grocery stores sell frozen meat?
Not all. Generally speaking, most grocery stores sell some frozen and some fresh meat. The nicer and more high-end a store is, the more likely they are to have in-house butchers who cut the meat at the store. This means they will have more fresh meat and less meat that was previously frozen.
How do stores keep meat fresh?
Proper meat storage is essential to prevent spoilage, so you might wonder how they keep their meat fresh. Stores take measures to prevent contamination and spoilage of meat by strictly monitoring cooler or freezer temperatures. These are logged not only daily, but many times throughout the day.