Potted Meat Food Products

Canned meat products have a certain appeal. First is the morbid fascination of examining the ingredients, which might include items such as partially defatted cooked beef fatty tissue, beef tripe, or pork brains. Then there's the pity on the photographer who had to take pictures for the label in an attempt to make the product look edible. Finally, there's the speculation of what the product really looks like if you dare open the can. Unlike products such as Pork Tidbits, where you can see the "tidbits" floating in yellow water, the can conceals the contents.

An educated consumer reads ingredients. Armour's Potted Meat Food Product is probably America's #1 choice because it contains two types of partially defatted cooked fatty tissues and many other ingredients. On the other hand, people may prefer Hormel because it has fewer ingredients and does not contain sodium erythorbate (unless that's in the meat broth). Both, of course, have mechanically separated chicken. Alternatively, there's always Libby's.

You take the taste test and let me know...

For those who don't favour the taste of Potted Meat, there are other canned options. Pork Brains in Milk Gravy is irresistible just for its cholesterol content (1200% of the U.S. RDA!). Spam is the king of meat products for the sheer quality and purity of its ingredients. Lamb tongues probably look cute but seem to be unavailable in the U.S. (the tin in the picture is from New Zealand).

Armour* has changed its ingredients a number of times. The best that I can figure out shows the following evolution:

version n Beef tripe, beef hearts, chicken, partially defatted cooked pork fatty tissue, water, salt, mustard, vinegar, dried garlic, sodium erythorbate, natural flavoring, sodium nitrite

version n+1 Chicken, Beef Tripe, Partially Defatted Cooked Pork Fatty Tissue, Beef Hearts, Partially Defatted Cooked Beef Fatty Tissue, Water, Salt, 2 percent or less: Natural Flavorings, Vinegar, Dextrose, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite

version n+2 Mechanically Separated Chicken, Beef Tripe, Partially Defatted Cooked Beef Fatty Tissue, Beef Hearts, Water, Partially Defatted Cooked Pork Fatty Tissue, Salt. Less than 2 percent: Mustard, Natural Flavorings, Dried Garlic, Dextrose, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite

Mechanically separated chicken

One question that has been plaguing me was just what is mechanically separated chicken? I found the answer from the National Food Safety Database's Meat and Poultry Labeling Terms:

Mechanically Separated Poultry
is a paste-like poultry product produced by forcing crushed bone and tissue through a sieve or similar device to separate bone from tissue. Mechanically separated poultry has been used in poultry products since 1969 after the National Academy of Sciences found it safe for use. In 1995 the final rule on mechanically separated poultry said it was safe to use without restrictions. However, it must be labeled as "mechanically separated chicken or turkey" in the ingredient statement. The final rule became effective Nov. 1996.

Meat by-products

Not necessarily related to potted-meat, one often wonders about the definition of meat by-products. The Flint River Ranch summarizes the definition as

by-products are parts of the animal not fit for human consumption.

and elaborates:

Meat By-Products - the non rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth and hooves.

Incidentally, Slim Jim Brand Spicy Smoked "Snack" (notice they don't make any pretense to it being a meat snack) also contains mechanically separated chicken:

Ingredients: Beef, mechanically separated chicken, water, salt, corn syrup, dextrose, flavorings, spice, paprika, hydrolyzed corn gluten, soy and wheat gluten protiens, sodium nitrite, lactic acid starter culture.

This begs the question: what exactly is lactic acid starter culture? That's another topic for another day.

Armour*
POTTED MEAT FOOD PRODUCT
America's #1 Choice

Ingredients: Mechanically Separated Chicken, Beef Tripe, Partially Defatted Cooked Beef Fatty Tissue, Beef Hearts, Water, Partially Defatted Cooked Pork Fatty Tissue, Salt. Less than 2 percent: Mustard, Natural Flavorings, Dried Garlic, Dextrose, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite

Hormel
POTTED MEAT FOOD PRODUCT Ingredients: Beef Tripe, Mechanically Separated Chicken, Beef Hearts, Partially Defatted Cooked Beef Fatty Tissue, Meat Broth, Vinegar, Salt, Flavoring, Sugar, Sodium Nitrite.

Links

The Potted Meat Food Product Tribute Page: A page by Jeff Lee. A highly recommended reference.
Mike's Meat Collection: More than just potted meat. It includes my favourite - Pork Brains in Milk Gravy, a "food" that contains 1170% of your recommended daily allowance of cholosterol (3500mg per can).
Chuck: Potted Meat Food Product: An article by Bernie O'Higgins in Chuck Magazine.

An alta vista search on "potted meat food" revealed 115 documents in early 1998. By early 2000, it yields only 76 pages. Now the count is up to 111 pages, clearly indicating renewed interest in this food group.

Paul Krzyzanowski, pk@pk.org

version n	Beef tripe, beef hearts, chicken, partially defatted cooked pork fatty tissue, water, salt, mustard, vinegar, dried garlic, sodium erythorbate, natural flavoring, sodium nitrite
version n+1	Chicken, Beef Tripe, Partially Defatted Cooked Pork Fatty Tissue, Beef Hearts, Partially Defatted Cooked Beef Fatty Tissue, Water, Salt, 2 percent or less: Natural Flavorings, Vinegar, Dextrose, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite
version n+2	Mechanically Separated Chicken, Beef Tripe, Partially Defatted Cooked Beef Fatty Tissue, Beef Hearts, Water, Partially Defatted Cooked Pork Fatty Tissue, Salt. Less than 2 percent: Mustard, Natural Flavorings, Dried Garlic, Dextrose, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite