A few days ago, it was exposed at the March 15 party that some prepared vegetable manufacturers were using unstrictly processed pork to make prepared dishes such as pickled pork with pickled vegetables. What exactly is chaotou meat and can it be eaten? Can you still eat meat happily? How to eat meat more safely?
Can you eat trough meat?
Trough head meat refers to the meat at the connection between the pig head and trunk. In some places, it is called "knife edge meat" or "blood neck meat". Under normal circumstances, a pig weighing about 200 kilograms can have about ten kilograms of trough meat.
There has been a popular saying that "blood neck meat cannot be eaten because it contains many lymph nodes, some of which are diseased and harmful to the body."
Actually, this statement is not correct.
1. Pork neck meat is not equal to lymph nodes
Many people equate the two, thinking that pig necks are all lymph nodes. In fact, lymph nodes and pig necks are two different concepts. Lymph nodes are distributed throughout the body. They are not unique to the neck, but are more concentrated on the pig neck.
2. Only diseased lymph nodes are toxic.
The main function of lymph nodes in the animal body is hematopoiesis and immune function. It is an organ that filters pathogens in the animal body. It can retain all pathogenic microorganisms brought by the lymph and prevent them from entering the blood. In circulation, you can think of it as a "filtration device" in the animal's body. Only diseased lymph nodes pose a health threat.
In fact, lymph nodes can indeed filter pathogenic microorganisms, but after they are cooked thoroughly, the risk is extremely low and there will be no problem.
Normally, only when the animal itself is sick + the pathogens in a large number of diseased lymph nodes are not killed + eat a large amount of it, and these three conditions occur at the same time, people may face the risk of contracting the pathogen. For most people, the risk of contracting disease from eating lymph meat is very small.
There are also some claims that pork head meat is the dirtiest and has the worst quality. In fact, this is also a great injustice. You are competing with pig intestines! !
According to the requirements of the "National Standard of the People's Republic of China (gb/t17236-2019) Livestock and Poultry Slaughtering Operating Procedures for Pigs", pigs after slaughter must be "renovated": renovated visible diseased lymph nodes, removal of adrenal glands and residual thyroid glands, etc. As long as it is removed, safety can be guaranteed.
3. Eating pork without removing the three glands is prone to thyroid poisoning
If the three glands are not removed, there may be a risk of poisoning or even death. There has been an incident in which one person died from thyroid poisoning due to eating pork that had not completely removed the three glands. This is also part of the reason why there is a popular saying that "bloody neck meat cannot be eaten".
The perpetrator in this case specifically purchased throat meat from other places to make chondroitin. After cooking the removed minced meat, he sold it to others at a low price for consumption. The workers did not remove the thyroid gland during the operation.
Thyroid hormone is relatively stable in nature and is difficult to be destroyed by ordinary cooking methods. It needs to be heated to above 600℃ to destroy it.
People can be poisoned if they eat 3g of fresh thyroid. During poisoning, the sympathetic nervous center will be overexcited, and in severe cases, symptoms such as high fever, anxiety, irritability, tachycardia, and arrhythmia may occur. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may also occur, leading to problems such as water and electrolyte disorders, and late shock or even coma. , clinically similar to sepsis. Causes of death are mostly high fever, heart failure, pulmonary edema, and water and electrolyte disorders.
Generally speaking, as long as the pig neck meat (trough meat) has been slaughtered in accordance with the regulations and passed the quarantine, it can be eaten with confidence. Nowadays, the main reason why people don’t eat it is because it’s not delicious. We also have many other kinds of meat to eat.
3·15 What is the real problem with the bad meat exposed at the party?
So, what is the main problem of this March 15 exposure? Mainly:
1. The raw materials are not up to standard.
In this case, some of the raw meat used in the production of the company may indeed have not standardized the "three glands removal" process, and it is a substandard product. Whether it is used in prepared dishes or other foods, it is illegal as long as it enters the market.
2. The enterprise’s production process is not standardized.
Food safety production must comply with corresponding good production procedures. However, judging from the exposure of the program, the dirty and messy environment of this factory and the stacking of raw materials obviously do not meet the requirements and are illegal.
However, these are not unique to prepared dishes, and there is no need to think that all prepared dishes are bad just because of this. If any food company uses substandard raw materials and the production process does not meet the requirements of good operating practices, the products produced will be substandard and should be severely punished.
How to eat meat with confidence?
Some people on the Internet also recommend some techniques for distinguishing lymphatic meat, such as touching to see if it has a grainy feel, whether it is sticky, smelling whether there is a fishy smell, and seeing whether the color is shiny, etc. However, these methods are actually difficult to accurately identify, and It is also inconvenient to operate.
Think about it, when you buy meat, do you touch it with your hands? Or even pick it up and smell it? Many people don't want to touch it. As for gloss, under the influence of various "fill lights" now, there is only more gloss, not less.
Moreover, due to different types of meat, storage time, storage conditions, and even lighting problems in the sales place, the color of the meat will be different; when everyone buys meat, they touch it with their hands, pick it up and smell it. It is not practical. Touching it with your hands creates the risk of cross-contamination and does not meet the requirements of good food safety practices. Even if the meat has a fishy smell, it is not necessarily due to lymphatic meat. Other bacterial contamination leading to spoilage will also cause the smell.
So, how to buy healthy and fresh meat?
1. Try to buy meat from regular supermarkets, markets and e-commerce platforms. Currently, it is standard practice to remove the three glands of meat on the market. As long as you buy it in regular supermarkets and market channels, you don’t have to worry too much. Cook it thoroughly according to the correct cooking method before eating it. There will be no health hazards.
2. Don’t buy meat from unknown sources, especially don’t be greedy for cheap. It is much more likely that meat that has been slaughtered privately, traded secretly, or smuggled has not had the three glands removed, or has lesions, etc. Please do not buy it, and do not take risks because of greed for gain.
3. Don’t buy meat that you don’t trust. Of course, if you are not sure when buying meat and feel uneasy about the color or taste of the meat, you can choose not to buy it and buy it elsewhere.
4. Eat when it’s time, drink when it’s time, and eat meat when it’s cooked.
(Beijing Youth Daily)
