Brown Mince - ok to eat?

[Hawkwalk]

Is it ok to use brown mince? It is still in date but has just changed colour since yesterday and now looks brown rather than red.

[jane1098]

i would smell it and if it doesn't smell "blowy offy" or gone green in places it should be ok.

[VillageVicar]

A rather gross thought, but the 'red' we see on our mince is often placed there by distributors. I agree with jane. If it passes the whiffy test, then you should be fine...chicken is always a different matter...

Bon Appetitte!

Fr Bill

[nickmo]

The meat has just oxidised which is why its brown - cook thoroughly to make it 'safe' - any hint of a smell though and don't use it as suggested....

[mrrobbo15]

its fine.....any mince goes dark inside after a few hours

just interested to know, whats the 'red' put in it by distributors.......anyone know ????

[nickmo]

For MrR-

Lots of news recently aboput the use of Red2G - derived from modified coal tar and proven to cause cancers in lab tests.

Its used in spice mixes - so check your sausages and burgers too - and industry representatives bodies like The British Meat Processors Association and the National Association of Meat Traders (covers independent butchers) are unable to say how often the dye is used.

Its banned in the US, Switzerland, Norway and a few other places but not yet in the UK I believe.

The EU directive on fresh (or frozen and chilled, too) meat allows for the use of antibiotics, oestrogens, thyreostatics or tenderisers and there are permitted levels of these in meat from bovine animals, swine, sheep, goats and solipeds sold for human consumption, so its not just your colouring to worry about by any means....

Never mind chemical enhancement - s/markets are happy to use other things like lighting at point of sale to make stuff look nicer - try taking that piece of beef out to daylight from the meat counter or even the tomatoes - and see the difference! At least lighting doesn't go into the body..

Cows milk - can be found with bovine growth hormones as a result of the pressure to up the output of the animal so take a close look at what you eat - its really interesting!

Natural colourings from cherries for example can be used, but by and large the meat industry applies some pretty large scale science to its products to enhance the look.

Oh and your fish can be dyed too - red snapper? Mullet? Really? If the ice round a fish display is coloured its likely the fish has been dyed too.....bumps the price a bit rather than for a pale looking product....

Beware people! who ever eat food!!!!

[Hawkwalk]

thanks for the answers - 100% pure beef with no red dye in this one - just blood!!

may post in the health section tomorrow if it was off!!