A few evenings ago, I was consulted by a friend of mine nigh the color of meat and how to tell if it'due south bad. She sent me this photo….

Dark MeatBack story… this woman bought these steaks, opened them up, turned them over, and institute this…. She assumed they were bad and threw them out! She then went ahead to post the photo on Facebook with a annotate almost how upset she was her steaks were bad. Although I don't know this woman, I wish I would have been able to let this woman know her steaks were perfectly fine. And it makes me deplorable that nobody on those twenty comments told her that either.

Huh!? Brown meat!? That's right. Brownish meat is OKAY to consume.. Then what makes meat ruby-red in the outset place? The most common answer people give me is claret. Well I detest to break it to yous only there is actually no blood in muscles. All the blood is removed from the beast when it is slaughtered. That cherry-red liquid you see is actually water mixing with a protein that gives meat its cherry color, myoglobin. Myoglobin is a protein that stores oxygen for aerobic metabolism in the muscle. All mammals contain this protein in their meat tissues and is very similar to hemoglobin which stores oxygen in our reddish blood cells. This poly peptide is commonly a dark grayish-purple merely when it comes in contact with oxygen, information technology becomesoxymyoglobin and reacts past turning a deep red color. That is why well-nigh of the meat we see has a brilliant red color.

Just this colour can vary, as we accept seen earlier, from light red to an intense red to an virtually royal color. Color in meat can change depending on the age of the beast, the species, sex, diet, and even the practise it gets. The meat from older animals will be darker in color because the myoglobin level increases with as animals age. Exercised muscles are always darker in color. Because muscles differ greatly in activity, their oxygen demand varies which in turn means the same animal tin can have variations of colour in its muscles. Besides myoglobin levels vary by species which is why beef has more of a red color than pork or lamb.  So why does meat turn dark-brown?

Both myoglobin and oxymyoglobin accept the ability to lose their oxidation which results in a brown color called metmyoglobin. This essentially means that meat tin turn from a bright red color (which many associate with fresh) to a dark-brown color from a lack of oxygen. Meat can also turn brown if any sort of contamination that would cause a chemic reaction comes in contact with it. For instance, cure (sodium nitrite) turns raw meat a brownish-grey color (think of a cured, uncooked salami) if information technology comes in direct contact with a meat surface, simply if that same meat is then heated, the sodium nitrite turns the meat a pinkish colour (much like ham). In order for meat to maintain that bright red color we are familiar with, oxygen must exist available at a sufficient concentration. That is why grocery stores utilize a minor flick over their products versus a vacuum package. Browning of meat can also occur with meat that has been chilled for a long period of time (virtually 5 days), ie: taken home from the grocery store and placed in your fridge for some time. This happens because as meat is chilled/frozen for long periods of time, enzyme activity decreases and so the myoglobin and oxygen quit mixing together to go along meat that bright red color.

Browning of meat can also occur when oxygen partial force per unit area is low or basically when meat is stacked on height of ane another. This is more than probable the example from the photograph higher up. This is also the reason why your ground beef from the store may be red on the outside but brown on the inside. Oxygen can't readily make its mode through or penetrate the basis beef and so it begins to lose its cerise color on the inside after time. The irresolute from red to brown and even the purplish color to ruby occurs quite easily in meat, the reverse is much difficult. Once meat has browned, it is hard to get it enough oxygen to contrary the process. As well, this same process is the reason meat does indeed plow dark-brown when y'all melt it. Merely in one case meat is cooked, it denatures the proteins so there is really no going back! All of the protein is not affected at the same time which is why yous get different variations of a reddish color at unlike temperature points. Basically this is what gives united states of america rare, medium rare, medium, well done, etc. Those colors associated with meat temperatures are basically denatured metmyoglobin!

Then nosotros've established in one case meat turns brown, it's hard for it to plow back to that cherry-red color. One myth I see commonly brought up is that onetime meat is dyed red. This is not anything whatsoever of us in the meat industry accept heard of nor have we found information to supply this so-called practice. Since we are dealing with an enzymatic reaction hither, I don't think any dye could possibly work equally effectively as the reaction itself. When you see red meat in the grocery shop, information technology'due south considering it is a. actually fresh  and b. allowed oxygen to go along it that red color.

Then if colour isn't an indicator of spoiled meat, what is…? The number i indicator of spoiled meat is in fact scent. An off smell volition be prevalent to your senses and the most effective manner to diagnose spoiled meat. Another indicator of spoiled meat is tacky or sticky to the bear on. Slimy meat (not juicy) is also a great indicator of spoilage. This especially occurs if meat has been temperature abused. Raw meat that has been heated up (non cooked) so re-cooled will often times become gummy or tacky along with perchance a color change. Use these 3 factors in diagnosing spoiled meat: does information technology odor, is it gummy, AND does it have color change? If all 3 or at least two of 3 are nowadays (even with NO color change) than information technology'south probably alright to toss information technology rather than risk getting sick.

So if you happen to open up a package of meat looking similar the photo above, please don't throw it abroad simply considering of its colour. Employ the three indicators given to diagnose if it's spoiled or not. If it is not spoiled, feel free to indulge without worry!

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For more information on this topic, visit these sources:

The Color of Meat & Poultry from USDA

Meat Color from Academy of Saskatchewan

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