What is restructured meat? Be sure to eat it fully cooked and watch out for its high sodium and high phosphorus content.
Shusen Company used powdered beef tallow made from Ting Hsin feed-grade beef tallow to make restructured beef, selling it under the name of budget steak to various steak houses and barbecue restaurants, which triggered public panic and also stirred up public doubts about restructured steak. Food safety experts point out that restructured meat is a common processed food in daily life, and it has its advantages, but it must be cooked until fully done before eating. At the same time, patients with chronic diseases should also pay attention to the high sodium and high phosphorus problems when eating this kind of meat product.
Domestic attention to the food safety of restructured beef probably began on October 4, 2004, when United Daily News exposed that many well-known chain steak houses were using restructured beef to "pass off" as steak, and waiters would even ask consumers how well done they wanted it. After the incident broke out, some chain steak houses stopped selling steaks made from restructured beef, and the Department of Health required operators to note on steak menus whether the meat was restructured. This time, Shusen Company's budget steak once again broke out over the use of problematic powdered beef tallow, once again stirring public attention to the safety of restructured steak.
Chen Chun-cheng, an adjunct lecturer at the Extension Education Department of Chinese Culture University who has worked in the food industry for more than 30 years, said that it is not only restructured steak; in fact, traces of restructured meat can be seen at any time in our daily diet, mainly divided into whole-muscle cuts and ground or minced meat products. Common whole-muscle cut products include restructured steak, restructured pork chop, and restructured chicken steak; common ground or minced meat products include chicken nuggets, boneless fried chicken, beef balls, pork balls (Gongwan), fish balls, restructured meat sausages, and so on.
