Thawed Meat Sells Like Fresh Meat: Is It Safe?

In many supermarkets, convenience stores, markets, imported meat is thawed for retail, in which, there are products that are discolored or metamorphosed right on the counter, stalls … but still easily pass the eyes of many consumers. count.

Consumers when choosing meat in the cooler of a supermarket need to learn carefully because there are many types of defrosted meat Photo: Tran Viet – VNA Cheap, easy to buy, convenient to process Ms. Linh Chi (banker, Ba Trieu branch, Hanoi), said that recently, when she went to the supermarket, she came across lean pork, pork belly imported from the US, cut into pieces and pre-packed in blister packs. , stored in the refrigerator for sale. This type of meat costs from 104,000-154,000 VND/kg, cheaper than fresh domestic meat. When she wondered about the fact that imported meat was not kept in the freezer but kept in the cooler when sold, the supermarket staff explained: “Frozen meat is often in large volume, making it difficult for consumers to buy, so Supermarket defrosts, cuts, divides into small pieces from 300-400gr/tray and is stored in the refrigerator”. Further observation, Ms. Linh saw that at this food counter in the supermarket, there was a sign noting to consumers: “The product has been defrosted, please do not re-freeze”. According to the reporter’s observations, with meats that have been defrosted, chopped, and sold as cool or fresh meats, many customers choose because of their low prices, suitable for the retail needs of the majority of customers. . However, very few supermarkets clearly state the origin and condition of these meats. In supermarkets, convenience stores, you will not easily recognize this as thawed meat because the small stamps on the surface of the tray only display the words “American beef shoulder”, “Australian beef shoulder”. … Especially, what is more worrying, if supermarkets and convenience stores bring defrosted meat to sell as cool meat, in markets, thawed meat is sold as fresh meat. Even at the end of the day, if it doesn’t sell out, the stall owner will re-freeze the meat to sell it the next day. Thawed meat does not guarantee food safety With the advantages of being easy to buy because of its small volume, convenient processing, and low cost, consumers have chosen this type of defrosted meat. However, food safety experts are concerned about the safety and quality of frozen meat when defrosting if done in an inappropriate manner. Specifically, when defrosting, the meat must be brought to the refrigerator (temperature is about 4-5 degrees Celsius) to slowly defrost, not put the meat outside in the natural environment or put the meat in water. When leaving meat out, the high temperature will make it easy for bacteria to infect and grow, which is not safe. In many supermarkets, convenience stores, markets, imported meat is thawed for retail Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh, former officer of the Institute of Food and Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology, said that in markets, hygienic conditions cannot be compared with supermarkets, meat has a high risk of infection. With unsold meat, small traders re-freeze, bacteria continue to be inhibited, but after thawing, exposed to normal temperature, bacteria multiply faster before re-freezing. Moreover, when selling, due to the large amount of meat, the cooler is not able to cool the pieces of meat evenly, so it still creates opportunities for bacteria to grow. The amount of bacteria will multiply day by day. After three days, the meat in the supermarket can be the same as the meat in the market if it is stored at a temperature above 5 degrees Celsius. “It is best to defrost it on the same day it is sold out” – Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh said. In addition, Mr. Vu The Thanh, a food safety and hygiene expert, said that defrosted meats are more susceptible to infection than fresh meat because when defrosting, the bacteria will continue to multiply after the freezing process. and multiply to infinity if favorable conditions are met. Therefore, when buying defrosted frozen meat, consumers should process and use it within the same day, do not re-freeze the meat because it will form ice in the piece of meat, after thawing again. , the meat will be dehydrated, not good to eat. Mr. Nguyen Van Manh, owner of a chain of stores specializing in selling clean food, said that fresh, frozen and chilled meat products must all meet technical regulations on food safety, if Failure to do so will result in fines or even criminal penalties. Explaining the reason why retailers still openly sell defrosted meat, Mr. Manh said that because these units did not announce or promote the meat as cool or fresh meat, the authorities cannot be punished. “The standard is for businesses to have grounds to announce the quality of products sold on the market, not mandatory. Only if these stalls hang signs selling cool and fresh meat but sell defrosted meat. , has just been punished”. To the naked eye, it can be seen that the pieces of pork after defrosting are usually pale in color. Even, the meat is still a bit cold, some pieces of meat still have ice crystals. As for beef, frozen buffalo meat that is thawed is usually darker in color, especially when sold at room temperature, on a hot day in the market.