Australian beef isn't as 'natural' as it once was

At ShopRite supermarkets, the whole beef tenderloin for filet mignon from Australia is free range and grass fed, and it's cheaper than the same cut raised in the United States, where most cattle are grain fed and kept confined in feedlots before slaughter.

"All natural" is the most overused and meaningless phrase, as shown by these boxes from Perdue, which sells chicken raised in crowded conditions and given harmful animal antibiotics. Perdue has the nerve to call its poultry "premium."

Editor's note: Today, I discuss free-range, grass-fed Australian beef, and a more relaxed shopping experience at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON

Editor

I still buy Nature's Reserve free-range, grass-fed beef from Australia for the meat eaters in my family, even though farmers down under give growth hormones to their herds.

At the ShopRite in Paramus, the whole beef tenderloin for filet mignon from Australia is on sale through today for $6.99 a pound with a store card, cheaper than the same cut raised in the United States.

But farmers who raise beef for Nature's Reserve are now using growth-promoting hormones administered by implanting a pellet in the cattle's ear.

The Web site of Meat and Livestock Australia says consumers face "no appreciable risk" from eating beef raised with growth hormones.

Here is the phone number for "squawks" about Perdue's low-quality chicken.

Limited sale

On Friday, I went to the Paramus ShopRite to buy Nature's Reserve Whole Beef Tenderloin for Filet Mignon (from Australia), which usually is sold in pieces of 5 or more pounds.

But the store didn't have any of those, only smaller pieces of around 2 pounds each, and the sale limits shoppers to one.

So, when I was leaving the store and looking over my receipt, I saw that I paid $8.99 a pound for two of the three pieces and $6.99 a pound, the sale price, for the third.

I went to customer service and argued that since the store didn't have pieces of 5 or more pounds, it should give me the sale price on all three of the smaller pieces.

It did, issuing me a credit of $8.32.

The whole tenderloin can be trimmed and cut thickly into filet mignons or thinly for marinating and grilling on the stove top for Korean-style barbecue.

The Australian beef sold by ShopRite is of far better quality than you'd encounter in Korean barbecue restaurants, which tend to use cheaper cuts.

The ShopRite also had sweet potatoes for 99 cents a pound or 79 cents a pound for 5 pounds or more. 

Update

Perdue's latest marketing ploy is, "We believe in better chicken," but the company doesn't actually promise to raise and sell "better"  or naturally raised poultry.

After 5 p.m. on weekdays, the main aisle at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack usually is wide open.

Organic whole wheat spaghetti in Classico Tomato & Basil pasta sauce and Season-brand anchovies from Costco Wholesale. Two optional ingredients are fresh chopped garlic and diced rind of Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, also from Costco.

A liter of Chosen Foods 100% Pure Avocado Oil from Mexico was $9.89 at Costco in Hackensack. Besides being made from Haas avocados that are non-GMO verified, the oil is said to have a higher burning point than canola or extra-virgin olive oil.


Afternoon delight

I've tired of fighting the morning crowds at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, and the panic buying before storms.

My last three trips to the warehouse store have been in the late afternoon, around 5, and they've been a pleasure.

On Thursday, I went through checkout at 5:15 p.m. with, among other items:

Pure avocado oil for salads and cooking, a new item; 2 pounds of sliced, reduced-fat Jarlsberg Lite Swiss Cheese ($8.59); a 3-pound bag of raw U.S. No. 1 almonds ($14.99); three LED 40-watt bulbs, $14.99 after an instant $5 coupon; and six 2-ounce cans of Season-brand Anchovies in pure olive oil ($6.99).

I also picked up a pair of Levi 569 jeans for $24.99 and a pair of dressy Kirkland Signature Men's Pants for $19.99. 


Snack, dinner

I roasted the salt-free almonds in the oven for 1 hour and 2o minutes at 275 degrees, and dusted them with Ground Saigon Cinnamon from Costco for snacking on their own or with cheese and fruit.

The anchovies, from Morocco, went into a large, covered pan with a 32-ounce bottle of Classico Tomato & Basil pasta sauce, a small can of tomato sauce, two cans of Moroccan sardines in tomato sauce (chopped), a few ounces of extra-virgin olive oil and red-pepper flakes.

I brought the sauce to a boil, lowered the flame and added a pound of organic whole wheat spaghetti from Whole Foods Market that had been boiled for about 10 minutes or until the pasta was al dente, cooked them together for another minute or two, mixing them well, and turned off the fire.

I ate the seafood spaghetti with grated Pecorino Romano Cheese.

Vegan kimchi, breakfast fish, beef update

Image via Wikipedia
Vegan Kimchi is now available in Englewood.

With its heavy reliance on beef, you wouldn't think Korean cuisine attracts any vegans, though vegetarians who eat fish and eggs can find plenty to eat.


Now, an Englewood-based company has introduced a vegan cabbage kimchi that is made without the usual salted shrimp and anchovy sauce.


The ingredient list for Arirang-brand Vegan Kimchi is short: Napa cabbage, daikon redish, salt, red pepper, garlic, ginger, water, sugar and scallion. No additives or preservatives are used.


The nutritional label on Arirang's standard cabbage kimchi, called mahk kimchi, says there are 160 milligrams of sodium in 1 ounce of the traditional, fermented product or about 7% of the daily recommended amount.


Without salted shrimp and anchovy sauce, the peppery Vegan Kimchi probably has even less sodium. It is available in 19-ounce jars where it is made:


Gaboh Inc., 191 W. Englewood Ave., Englewood; 201-503-1314.


Fish for breakfast, dinner


I had another terrific egg-and-fish breakfast at The Golden Grill in Teaneck.


Last time, I ordered the restaurant's fish cakes with my eggs, but this time, I asked for whiting, two eggs over easy and hash browns, but no toast. 


There were two hot, crispy fillets of fried whiting on top of my potatoes, and I could break off pieces and soak them in the wonderful yolks. Everything was even better with a liberal amount of Cholula Mexican hot sauce from a bottle on the table.


The breakfast special is $6.95, and tea was an extra $1.25. A great, meatless breakfast.


Last night, I had one of the great, meatless Meals To Go from Jerry's Gourmet in Englewood -- a multi-course, restaurant-quality dinner for sensible appetites.


The centerpiece was a small, wild-caught grouper fillet in roasted-pepper sauce, served with a thick artichoke frittata, five or six shrimp, roasted potatoes and a big, stuffed mushroom -- a total of 12 ounces.


Even though I gave my wife the penne with pancetta in cream sauce that came with my meal in exchange for a tangle of cooked thin, white asparagus from her meal, I was pleasantly full with the addition of a small salad I made.


Our other meals from Jerry's were barbecued chicken wings and roasted tilapia.


For years, the Meals To Go were only $6.99. But now Jerry's has raised them to $7.99, still a good deal and one of the best takeout values in North Jersey. 


The prepared meals are in a refrigerated case in the main part of Jerry's, though they are usually gone by early afternoon. Don't reheat the food in the plastic container; plate it first before popping it into the microwave.


The Golden Grill, 1379 Queen Anne Road, Teaneck; 201-837-1078.


Jerry's Gourmet and More, 410 S. Dean St., Englewood; 201-871-7108.


Australian beef update


After I published my last post, O say can you taste the grass?, I was contacted by Meat and Livestock Australia Ltd. (MLA) with corrected information on how beef is raised Down Under.


MLA said cattle raised for Nature's Reserve beef, a brand sold at ShopRite supermarkets in North Jersey, receive some growth hormones, even though they are free range and grass fed.


Originally, MLA said neither the beef or the lamb I wrote about contained growth hormones. Now, it says only the grass-fed lamb is hormone-free. 


Related posts

• Beef isn't the only choice for Korean BBQ (doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com)
• Kimchi is the star of a Korean meal for 10 (doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com)
• When meat divides a family (doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com)

Long trip, low price

Image via Wikipedia







All-natural Australian beef is on sale again at ShopRite Supermarkets, and this time, it's boneless rib-eye steaks for $4.99 a pound or $3.99 with a store card. 

The beef, sold under the Nature's Reserve label, is described in the flier as free range and grass fed, but there is a limit of 5 pounds. The sale runs through Saturday (Aug. 21). 

Conventionally raised U.S. beef rib steak costs more, even on sale ($5.99 and $6.99 with the Price Plus Card).

Naturally raised Australian beef and lamb can be raised for less and sold here for less, even when factoring in transportation costs. Too bad we don't see Australian pork here. Pork reportedly is raised with more antibiotics than other animals. 


ShopRite sells Certified Angus Beef rib steak, which is raised with antibiotics and growth hormones, but not Certified Angus Beef Natural, which is raised without them. 

Nail-biting Chef Bobby Flay uses the former line of beef in the hamburgers he sells at his so-called palace in Paramus.  I guess his profits come before his customers.
 

ShopRite answers competitors

Image by joshuapaquin via Flickr

The ShopRite sales flier delivered with my newspaper this morning answers the beef sales of three competitors, noted in my previous post, How low can they go on beef prices?

USDA choice, top round London broil is on sale for $1.49 a pound and Certified Angus Beef London broil is going for $1.99 a pound, both with a Price Plus card. This is conventionally raised beef, so you'll also be eating antibiotics, growth hormones and, probably, animal byproducts (bits of dead animals, kitchen scraps and so forth in cattle feed).

We're not eating beef right now, but if we were, I'd go to ShopRite and check out its price for Australian free-range, grass-fed filet mignon, which is raised without any of the nasty stuff and sold here at lower prices than U.S. beef.

The Australian lamb sold at Costco Wholesale

Image via Wikipedia

Editor's note: I wrote this post in May 2010, when I still ate meat and poultry. I haven't looked at Costco Wholesale lamb  for several years, but continue to buy grass-fed beef from Australia at ShopRite supermarkets for the meat-eaters in the family.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I've noticed that some readers arrive at Do You Really Know What You're Eating when searching for information on whether Australian lamb sold at Costco is raised with growth hormones. 

I'm providing the Internet link that will tell you everything you need to know about the lamb from Down Under.

As far as I know, all the Australian lamb sold at ShopRite, Costco and elsewhere in the United States  is supplied by the same ranchers, producers and exporters. 

American lamb producers say their costs are much higher and they have to sell conventionally raised meat for more money than the naturally raised, grass-fed meat from Australia. 

Be sure to click on "About us" at the link below:

Australian lamb Web site

Whose supermarket guru?

Image via Wikipedia

All of us want to save money when we shop for food, but we also want to avoid poultry and meat from factory farms, some farmed seafood and produce treated with a lot of pesticides.

However, none of this is discussed in "Save at the Supermarket," an article in the January & February 2010 issue of AARP The Magazine. The author is Phil Lempert, identified as the Supermarket Guru, who appears regularly on the Today Show and The View.

Lempert doesn't mention the antibiotics, hormones or animal by-products used to rush the growth of chickens, cattle, pigs and other animals; he doesn't discuss the merits of wild v. farmed seafood, which could be artificially colored or carry contaminants; and he doesn't recommend Australian beef and lamb, free-range, grass-fed products that are usually cheaper than their conventionally raised U.S. cousins

So whose Supermarket Guru is he?

I wrote a letter pointing out some of these omissions, and AARP The Magazine informed me it did not have room to publish it.

This is the same issue with an article on fish that omits the benefits of sardines.

Whole Foods Market discusses the use of antibiotics in animals on its blog: No antibiotics -- ever

Peddling hype at the supermarket

Premium is a word some supermarkets love to use, even though it is meaningless. All natural is a phrase favored by food producers who are trying to hide the unnatural things they do to the animals they raise.

You'll find lots of similar words and phrases in the sale circulars of North Jersey supermarkets, including A&P and Pathmark. (A&P owns Pathmark.)

Pathmark says its marinated top round London broil, sliced chicken breast and rotisserie chicken are "gold quality." So is the domestic Swiss cheese it sells. There's no indication that the beef or poultry are raised on vegetarian feed and without antibiotics or growth hormones.

At A&P, 1855-brand boneless center-cut pork chops are "all natural, premium." The Angus boneless top round London broil is "premium gold," but only USDA Choice, the middle grade of three used to classify beef. Marinated meats are "gold quality" and Plumrose sliced bacon is described as "premium." Again, we are told nothing about how the animals were raised or whether the bacon has harmful preservatives

A&P's circular trumpets "See Red & Save," referring to "Red Tag Savings." Circulars that are filled with hype are just making me see red.

Twenty rules about eating?

I'm passing along an article in The New York Times on rules about eating from readers. It cites author Michael Pollan's 20 favorite rules and asks readers to submit more.

The rules are folksy and lighthearted. None of the rules say you should try to avoid eating animals that are raised on factory farms, on a mixture of  antibiotics, growth hormones and animal by-products, additives that have an impact on human health. Here's the link to the Times piece:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/10/11/magazine/20091011-foodrules.html

Pork has less fat than chicken breast?

In reviewing old issues of Consumer Reports On Health, I came across an item suggesting that pork has less fat than an equivalent amount of skinless chicken breast.

"Evidence suggests pork is 16 percent leaner and has 27 percent less saturated fat than it did 15 years ago," the September 2006 newsletter said.

"A U.S. Department of Agriculture analysis (funded in part by the National Pork Board) found that a 3-ounce serving of pork tenderloin contains 2.98 grams of fat, compared with 3.03 grams in a 3-ounce serving of skinless chicken breast."

There's no mention of how most pork is raised with antibiotics and growth hormones and fed who knows what. In fact, I've read that pork receives more antibiotics than any other animal raised for human consumption. So if you love pork, be sure to buy the drug- and hormone-free variety sold at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods Market and some supermarkets.

Trader Joe's has St. Louis-style ribs from the Niman Ranch and at least two brands of drug- and preservative-free bacon. Whole Foods has the biggest selection of naturally raised pork, beef, lamb and poultry of any market in North Jersey. Super Stop & Shop carries Nature's Promise, a line of organic and naturally raised food, including drug- and hormone-free pork chops. See previous post, "Kudos for Stop & Shop." (This post was revised.)

Fairway Market's latest sales circular

Fairway Market in Paramus, grand opening (Wikipedia)

There isn't much of interest to me in the Fairway Market sales circular I got with today's Record. Prices are good from today through Sept. 11 in Paramus.

USDA Choice beef brisket is selling for $2.99 a pound -- no extra charge for the antibiotics, growth hormones and animal by-products that were probably used to raise the animal. Yummy. 

If you want kosher brisket, the price is $9.99 a pound, but there is no mention of whether the animal is raised the same way as for the cheap stuff..

Want some kosher, artificially colored farmed salmon? Only $6.99 a pound, compared with $8.99 for fresh wild sockeye salmon at Costco. Artificially colored, smoked farmed salmon is selling for $16.99 a pound, compared with $13.99 for a pound of Costco's smoked wild salmon.

Refrigerated Sabra hummus is $1.99 for 7 ounces and $3.99 for 17 ounces. I'll stick with the canned Libano Verde brand hummus I get at Fattal's in Paterson, $1.09 for 15 ounces. (You add olive oil, powdered garlic and lemon juice.)

Fairway does have good prices for organic milk: $2.99 for a half-gallon of kosher, grass-fed milk and $5.99 for a gallon of Organic Valley milk.

You'll also get a deal on a Murray's rotisserie chicken for $5.99 (weight not specified). Whole Foods Market in Paramus charges $7.49 for a similar rotisserie chicken, though it is probably larger.

Murray's poultry is hormone- and antibiotic-free and is raised on a vegetarian diet, and takes less time to cook than ordinary chicken. Let's hope the Paramus store doesn't overcook them, as the Harlem store did when I first tried a Murray's rotisserie chicken years ago.

What's on sale at ShopRite, Fairway Market

When I open supermarket sale circulars, I notice what's not on sale. Usually, antibiotic- and hormone-free foods are never discounted by ShopRite and Fairway Market, although Whole Foods Markets do a much better job in this regard.

The ShopRite circular for Aug. 9-15 prominently features that lousy Perdue chicken, for as little as 59 cents a pound. This is a case of getting what you pay for: flaccid chicken pumped full of antibiotics to make it grow faster and fatten the wallets of the owners. Packages are invariably marked "All Natural," a cruel joke on consumers. I'm still waiting for a sale on drug-free Readington Farms chicken, which is raised on a vegetarian diet.

At Fairway, USDA Prime shell steak, also known as New York strip, is on sale for $8.99 a pound from Aug. 8-14. Prime is the USDA's top grade, assigned that distinction because it has more fat than Choice or Select ("abundant marbling" is the way the USDA puts it). But the producer is not identified in the circular, so it's safe to assume the animals were confined in a feed-lot and pumped full of grain and hormones to get them to grow faster and get them to market faster. How appetizing is that?

Whole Foods often sells its drug- and hormone-free steaks for a discounted price of $9.99 a pound. And it stocks beef from New Jersey that is 100% grass-fed, considered the most natural way to raise the animals. Naturally raised chicken, pork, lamb -- all of it is on sale regularly -- and Whole Foods has the biggest selection, too.

A poor job of food journalism

The Record of Hackensack carried a column today by its restaurant reviewer, Elisa Ung, who criticizes "silly cliches" on menus. In a previous column, Ung highlighted typos, misspellings and other language problems on the menus of the places she has reviewed.

Unfortunately, her supervising editor and copy editors do a poor job of catching and fixing the typos, errors and wordy prose in her own columns and stories. In a restaurant review data box this past Friday, she listed $21.95 as the top price for entrees, but panned a paella for two at $41.95. On June 5, she noted "a casual relaxation from an easy dinner out." Once, she said a room in a restaurant was "chandelier-clad." In a story about Bobby Flay's hamburger restaurant in Paramus, she was just plain wrong on the type of ground beef used.

Ung is a woman in her 30s who demonstrates her limited knowledge of food and language with every column she writes. Rarely does she discuss how menus omit the origin of food and whether poultry and meat were raised with antibiotics and growth hormones. It is no longer enough to say a steak tastes good and was cooked to a customer's order. What I and many others want to know is whether the animal was 100% grass fed or confined in a feed lot and given grain, animal by-products and hormones to speed up its growth. And we also want to know whether the seafood we are ordering is wild-caught.

The $24.07 lunch menu Friday at Del Posto in Manhattan said the tomatoes were heirloom and the pork loin came from a breed of black pigs that are vegetarian-fed and raised without antibiotics and growth hormones. Other items were described similarly, as in the free-range chicken listed. Ung should start writing about whether the menus she sees in New Jersey show the same sensibility. (Revised Monday, Aug. 3, and Tuesday, Aug. 4.)

To all you bacon freaks

Here is a comment I sent today to the Web site relish.com. Relish magazine comes with my local newspaper once a month (this allows the newspaper to do less food writing, not more):

I went to baconfreak.com, mentioned on Page 4 of your April 2009 Relish magazine, and it seems the vast majority of bacon sold there is cured and filled with antibiotics and preservatives such as nitrates. To call it natural, as you do, is a real stretch. It may be lower in fat, but I have read that pigs receive more antibiotics than any other animal raised for food. What's wrong with antibiotics? People who eat lots of poultry and meat raised with antibiotics are becoming resistant to antibiotics they get from doctors. There is no discussion On the Web site baconfreak.com of cured vs. uncured, antibiotics or growth hormones and whether the bacon sold there has them.

The Web site refers to people who want to avoid nitrates as "health nuts." It does offer a small selection of bacon without nitrates, but there is no mention whether this bacon contains antibiotics and growth hormones.

There is lots of uncured bacon without antibiotics, growth hormones or nitrates sold at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Markets. This is the bacon you should feature in Relish magazine.