Latest news with #meat
National Post
12 hours ago
- Business
- National Post
Terry Newman: Why your steak sucks this summer
Article content When questioned about where the meat comes from, he said that, 'The chicken is almost 99 per cent Canadian. The beef and the pork, one day we could get 10 cases of back ribs and it's all Canadian, and the next day we get two cases of American.' Article content Yet 'none of the labels would tell you. That's what the little flags are for,' he explained, pointing to signs sitting above a bin of meat. 'Every couple of hours, they're constantly revising it in terms of what is and what isn't (Canadian).' Article content Again, there was nothing on the individual packages of meat to indicate whether the beef is foreign or homegrown, just flags or signs being shifted around to indicate whether beef is Canadian. Article content I spoke to a fourth butcher, this time at a Loblaws store, who confirmed that if it is not marked, there is no way for consumers to tell if the beef they are buying is from the United States or elsewhere. Article content At this location, a display case with unpackaged prime cuts featured some pieces of meat with flags indicating that they were Canadian. However, other meats in the case did not have any country-identifying information. Article content Article content There were packages of beef marked 'Canadian Beef,' with stickers saying, 'Pick the Beef with the Leaf,' and clearly displaying a black Canadian flag with 'Canada' written in the centre on each individual package. Article content Article content However, there was also beef that was unmarked. For example, a section filled with stewing beef, striploins and eye round marinating steaks with and without 'Canadian Pepper Seasoning' did not bear the same Canadian symbol on the individual packages. Article content Article content Article content The Loblaws butcher did, however, point to price tags above one bin of meats that had Canadian flags on it. These, he told me, were brought in as part of the 'Buy Canadian' movement against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. But these weren't everywhere in the store. In this location, they were above some vacuum-sealed, pre-seasoned pork products. Article content Article content Article content Grading requirements aside, I needed to determine whether the butchers were correct about Canadians not being able to tell if their meat is not Canadian. Article content I contacted Metro, Loblaws and the CFIA to ask why, as per the butchers I spoke with, there appears to be a lack of clarity around the labelling of meats from foreign countries, despite the rules posted on the food agency's website. Article content I asked Stephanie Bonk, communications manager for Metro, if the butchers were correct in saying that beyond marked boxes out back, consumers in the store would not be able to know if their meat was Canadian. Bonk said that Metro follows Ontario rules, which do not require country of origin labelling. Article content When I asked about store inspection, Bonk said that, 'To ensure compliance with federal and provincial requirements, the stores could be inspected by CFIA and/or' the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness. Article content She explained that, 'There is no requirement for country of origin on retail meat cuts that are cut and packaged at store level. This would include ground meats, stewing meat, kabobs, stir fry meat, etc.'
The Independent
a day ago
- Science
- The Independent
New research reveals a secret ingredient in the Neanderthal diet
Scientists long thought that Neanderthals were avid meat eaters. Based on chemical analysis of Neanderthal remains, it seemed like they'd been feasting on as much meat as apex predators such as lions and hyenas. But as a group, hominins – that's Neanderthals, our species and other extinct close relatives – aren't specialized flesh eaters. Rather, they're more omnivorous, eating plenty of plant foods, too. It is possible for humans to subsist on a very carnivorous diet. In fact, many traditional northern hunter–gatherers such as the Inuit subsisted mostly on animal foods. But hominins simply cannot tolerate consuming the high levels of protein that large predators can. If humans eat as much protein as hypercarnivores do over long periods without consuming enough other nutrients, it can lead to protein poisoning – a debilitating, even lethal condition historically known as 'rabbit starvation.' So, what could explain the chemical signatures found in Neanderthal bones that seem to suggest they were healthily eating tons of meat? I am an anthropologist who uses elements such as nitrogen to study the diets of our very ancient ancestors. New research my colleagues and I conducted suggests a secret ingredient in the Neanderthal diet that might explain what was going on: maggots. Isotope ratios reveal what an animal ate The ratios of various elements in the bones of animals can provide insights into what they ate while alive. Isotopes are alternate forms of the same element that have slightly different masses. Nitrogen has two stable isotopes: nitrogen-14, the more abundant form, and nitrogen-15, the heavier, less common form. Scientists denote the ratio of nitrogen-15 to nitrogen-14 as δ¹⁵N and measure it in a unit called permil. As you go higher up the food chain, organisms have relatively more of the isotope nitrogen-15. Grass, for example, has a very low δ¹⁵N value. An herbivore accumulates the nitrogen-15 that it consumes by eating grass, so its own body has a slightly higher δ¹⁵N value. Meat-eating animals have the highest nitrogen ratio in a food web; the nitrogen-15 from their prey concentrates in their bodies. By analyzing stable nitrogen isotope ratios, we can reconstruct the diets of Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens during the late Pleistocene, which ran from 11,700 to 129,000 years ago. Fossils from various sites tell the same story – these hominins have high δ¹⁵N values. High δ¹⁵N values would typically place them at the top of the food web, together with hypercarnivores such as cave lions and hyenas, whose diet is more than 70% meat. But maybe something else about their diet was inflating Neanderthals' δ¹⁵N values. Uncovering the Neanderthal menu We suspected that maggots could have been a different potential source of enriched nitrogen-15 in the Neanderthal diet. Maggots, which are fly larvae, can be a fat-rich source of food. They are unavoidable after you kill another animal, easily collectible in large numbers and nutritionally beneficial. To investigate this possibility, we used a dataset that was originally created for a very different purpose: a forensic anthropology project focused on how nitrogen might help estimate time since death. I had originally collected modern muscle tissue samples and associated maggots at the Forensic Anthropology Center at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, to understand how nitrogen values change during decomposition after death. While the data can assist modern forensic death investigations, in our current study we repurposed it to test a very different hypothesis. We found that stable nitrogen isotope values increase modestly as muscle tissue decomposes, ranging from -0.6 permil to 7.7 permil. This increase is more dramatic in maggots feeding on decomposing tissue: from 5.4 permil to 43.2 permil. To put the maggot values in perspective, scientists estimate δ¹⁵N values for Pleistocene herbivores to range between 0.9 permil to 11.2 permil. Maggots are measuring up to almost four times higher. Our research suggests that the high δ¹⁵N values observed in Late Pleistocene hominins may be inflated by year-round consumption of ¹⁵N-enriched maggots found in dried, frozen or cached animal foods. Cultural practices shape diet In 2017, my collaborator John Speth proposed that the high δ¹⁵N values in Neanderthals were due to the consumption of putrid or rotting meat, based on historical and cultural evidence of diets in northern Arctic foragers. Traditionally, Indigenous peoples almost universally viewed thoroughly putrefied, maggot-infested animal foods as highly desirable fare, not starvation rations. In fact, many such people routinely and often intentionally allowed animal foods to decompose to the point where they were crawling with maggots, in some cases even beginning to liquefy. This rotting food would inevitably emit a stench so overpowering that early European explorers, fur trappers and missionaries were sickened by it. Yet Indigenous peoples viewed such foods as good to eat, even a delicacy. When asked how they could tolerate the nauseating stench, they simply responded, 'We don't eat the smell.' Neanderthals' cultural practices, similar to those of Indigenous peoples, might be the answer to the mystery of their high δ¹⁵N values. Ancient hominins were butchering, storing, preserving, cooking and cultivating a variety of items. All these practices enriched their paleo menu with foods in forms that nonhominin carnivores do not consume. Research shows that δ¹⁵N values are higher for cooked foods, putrid muscle tissue from terrestrial and aquatic species, and, with our study, for fly larvae feeding on decaying tissue. The high δ¹⁵N values of maggots associated with putrid animal foods help explain how Neanderthals could have included plenty of other nutritious foods beyond only meat while still registering δ¹⁵N values we're used to seeing in hypercarnivores. We suspect the high δ¹⁵N values seen in Neanderthals reflect routine consumption of fatty animal tissues and fermented stomach contents, much of it in a semi-putrid or putrid state, together with the inevitable bonus of both living and dead ¹⁵N-enriched maggots. What still isn't known Fly larvae are a fat-rich, nutrient-dense, ubiquitous and easily procured insect resource, and both Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens, much like recent foragers, would have benefited from taking full advantage of them. But we cannot say that maggots alone explain why Neanderthals have such high δ¹⁵N values in their remains. Several questions about this ancient diet remain unanswered. How many maggots would someone need to consume to account for an increase in δ¹⁵N values above the expected values due to meat-eating alone? How do the nutritional benefits of consuming maggots change the longer a food item is stored? More experimental studies on changes in δ¹⁵N values of foods processed, stored and cooked following Indigenous traditional practices can help us better understand the dietary practices of our ancient relatives.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
UK's Cranswick's revenue rises on healthy demand for premium meat
July 28 (Reuters) - British meat producer Cranswick (CWK.L), opens new tab reported 7.9% growth in first-quarter like-for-like revenue on Monday, supported by resilient consumer demand for premium ranges as well as new business wins. The company, which supplies fresh pork, sausages, and bacon to supermarkets across Britain and exports to China, said premium meats continued to outperform as consumer appetite for natural protein, that derived from unprocessed sources like meat, is increasing. Cranswick has been expanding its operations across the pig production chain with recent acquisitions including sausage manufacturer Blakemans and UK pig genetics firm JSR Genetics . The company reported a 9.7% growth in reported revenue, partly helped by Blakemans' integration. The East Yorkshire based company has been ramping up capital spending to boost capacity, across its sites and said it has committed an additional 14 million pounds ($18.78 million) to expand output and product range at its Lincoln pet food facility. For the full year ending March 28, Cranswick expects to report adjusted pre-tax profit in line with market expectations of between 206.5 million pounds and 213.6 million pounds, according to a company compiled poll. ($1 = 0.7457 pounds)
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
UK's Cranswick reports higher first quarter revenue
July 28 (Reuters) - British meat producer Cranswick (CWK.L), opens new tab reported 9.7% growth in first-quarter revenue on Monday, supported by resilient consumer demand for pork and poultry products, as well as its diversification into pet food supporting growth amid economic headwinds.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Utah Residents Struggling with Odor Coming from Abandoned Meat Shop: 'It Smells Like There's 100 Bodies in There Rotting'
Authorities said they found "quite a bit of meat in there that had spoiled" A smelly situation. Utah residents in the cities of Ogden and South Ogden are making a stink about an odor coming from an abandoned meat shop. "In March, we noticed that nobody was coming by anymore, the owner. And then Memorial Day, we had a campout in our backyard with my kids, and we just couldn't stomach the smell that was coming out of there," local Kim Lindsey told Fox 13. "I've never experienced anything like how gross this place is in my life,' Ali Lindsey added to the outlet, while Tate Lindsey further explained, 'It smells like there's 100 bodies in there rotting. It's just so bad." Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Tate told Fox 13 that residents used to know the owner of the shop. 'They would come over for campfires and stuff, and they would have their kids come over for s'mores," he said. "And ever since then, ever since they abandoned this, they haven't been back,' Tate added to the outlet. The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now! Kim, meanwhile, said the odor caused family members to stop coming by, because they couldn't stand the smell. 'I'm going to cry, being able to have this place gone, and have my kids and my grandkids come back, is going to be everything to me and my husband and our family," she told Fox 13. Chief Mike Slater from the Ogden Fire Department (OFD) told Fox 13 that authorities recently "got access to the building, opened it up, and found some food that had spoiled." "It's an old meat-packing plant, and quite a bit of meat in there that had spoiled," he continued, adding that finding the owner is now up to the city. is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more! Officials told the local outlet that depsite the horrid smell, the area and odor pose no harm to the general public. They added to Fox 13 that eliminating hazardous materials from the abandoned shop is expected to take several days. Read the original article on People
