Do you know what the butcher just told me?

[Jean in Newcastle]

I was buying ground beef at the grocery store. I reached for some "natural ground beef" and said "Oh, here's the kind without hormones." He said, "Oh, that has hormones." I pointed to the "no added hormones" label and he told me that meant that no hormones were added after the animal died. He said that the only truly hormone free beef was organic. Had you ever heard this?

[Sharon H in IL]

I think he doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

Hormones are chemical messengers in living things. That's their only function.

[KungFuPanda]

Did he explain exactly HOW they add hormones to a dead animal and what purpose they would serve then?

[Jean in Newcastle]

OK - now I feel tricked. According to a bunch of websites I've visited, "no hormones added" means there were no hormones used during the life of the animal. I feel like he was telling me this just so that I would buy the more expensive organic beef. (Though he was just an employee in a supermarket chain so there shouldn't be any direct motive for him to do so.)

[KirstenH]

"Natural" is a meaningless descriptor when it comes to food packaging. Natural produce can be full of pesticides, natural meats can be full of added hormones and antibiotics. "Organic" is backed up by regulations, and will guarantee a certain level of purity in your food. It costs more for a reason.

[mom4him]

I was buying ground beef at the grocery store. I reached for some "natural ground beef" and said "Oh, here's the kind without hormones." He said, "Oh, that has hormones." I pointed to the "no added hormones" label and he told me that meant that no hormones were added after the animal died. He said that the only truly hormone free beef was organic. Had you ever heard this?

 

Sorry but I purchase mine from a friend and her beef is pasture raised without hormones nor antibiotics. I have never heard of them adding hormones after the animal is dead. Why would they?

[ChristyB in TN]

Maybe the butcher simply doesn't know the distinctions. I'm sure he doesn't give a fiddle flop how much someone pays for the beef. He only knows what he hears. It is not like being a butcher requires lots and lots of continuing education every year on new definitions and the distinctions. He certainly does know one cut of meat from another, but I would assume they don't have to keep up to stay employed. By what I understand, no hormones added means the animals had no hormones added to them or to their feed before death, lol. Organic wou

D mean they ate organic feed, before death. ::). Natural means nothing. :tongue_smilie: maybe you can fill him in!

[Audrey]

He doesn't know what he's talking about.

[OrganicAnn]

I am trying to fathom what he was saying. Could he have meant that they didn't add filler that had hormones to the meat (the infamous pink slime)?

[DarlaS]

Sorry but I purchase mine from a friend and her beef is pasture raised without hormones nor antibiotics. I have never heard of them adding hormones after the animal is dead. Why would they?

 

I don't think that's what he was implying. I think he was telling her not to trust the label. I have to admit that a label that states "no added hormones" as opposed to "raised without hormones" does make me suspicious.

 

I do hope he's wrong.

[Liz CA]

I was buying ground beef at the grocery store. I reached for some "natural ground beef" and said "Oh, here's the kind without hormones." He said, "Oh, that has hormones." I pointed to the "no added hormones" label and he told me that meant that no hormones were added after the animal died. He said that the only truly hormone free beef was organic. Had you ever heard this?

 

Unfortunately, yes. We have almost exclusively switched to organic. Not sure about hormones specifically - but there is enough going on in slaughterhouses that makes me squeamish. What a shame that this is even in our food supply and many people don't know it!

Edited May 11, 2012 by Liz CA

[Jpoy85]

No added hormones means they didnt add anything else to it. It doesnt mean it was a cow living in a pasture only eating grass until they went and shot it and sent it to the factory.

You can buy that type of meat, but it will cost you more because there is no middle man. The farmer does it all and then they send it to the factories for processing.

 

As far as hormones, "extras" they add after death- its to conserve freshness and color and taste.

[Soror]

He doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

:iagree: I wouldn't trust a grocery store employee for any info.

[kolamum]

OK - now I feel tricked. According to a bunch of websites I've visited, "no hormones added" means there were no hormones used during the life of the animal. I feel like he was telling me this just so that I would buy the more expensive organic beef. (Though he was just an employee in a supermarket chain so there shouldn't be any direct motive for him to do so.)

 

:grouphug: I don't think he INTENTIONALLY tricked you. I think he was an uninformed person who made it up as he went along. I know of someone who asked the Butcher for grass fed beef, his response was, "Cows don't eat grass!" I mean really now, right?

 

Some butchers ARE better then others. We have one in a supermarket chain who can look at the cut of beef & tell us if it's organic & grass fed or not. I know because I asked if he could tell me. He said that based on the marbling he'd feel confident in saying yes. That typical grain fed beef was the opposite. Unfortunately said store & butcher no longer carry this which is a total disappointment for us.

[DarlaS]

Something to remember is they ARE allowed to label foods in ways that imply something that is not true. "Made with whole grain" comes to mind. On cereals like Froot Loops. :glare:

 

So if I saw a label that indicated "all natural" or "no hormones added" I would be wondering about specifics. No hormone injections? None in the feed? What exactly constitutes "added" in this context? Are there feed products that elevate the animals hormones naturally that are free of being considered a hormone themselves? Are they speaking of artificial hormones, but are allowed to use a specific kind that makes it still legal to label it "no hormones added"?

 

Disclaimer: I have no idea if any of the above is a concern. Just thoughts I would have if I saw that label.

 

I very much have a "What are they trying to pull here?" reaction to food labels. I would not take what this butcher said at face value, but I would not immediately dismiss it either.

[Spy Car]

Something to remember is they ARE allowed to label foods in ways that imply something that is not true. "Made with whole grain" comes to mind. On cereals like Froot Loops. :glare:

 

So if I saw a label that indicated "all natural" or "no hormones added" I would be wondering about specifics. No hormone injections? None in the feed? What exactly constitutes "added" in this context? Are there feed products that elevate the animals hormones naturally that are free of being considered a hormone themselves? Are they speaking of artificial hormones, but are allowed to use a specific kind that makes it still legal to label it "no hormones added"?

 

Disclaimer: I have no idea if any of the above is a concern. Just thoughts I would have if I saw that label.

 

I very much have a "What are they trying to pull here?" reaction to food labels. I would not take what this butcher said at face value, but I would not immediately dismiss it either.

 

It is like the "No Nitrates Added" hoax that (unfortunately, because I generally like them) stores like Trader Joes plays on the consumers, with fine print adding "except those naturally occurring in celery-juice" (which isn't true either).

 

Seems that if a food processor takes celery-juice or celery-powder and adds lactic acid (something they never mention) you get just the same amount of nitrates as if you just dumped the chemicals in directly. But the labeling laws allow them to prevaricate and create deliberate false-impressions among consumers.

 

Bill

[ma23peas]

FYI...

 

So, its up to you the consumer to educate yourself and be aware of the tricks of the trade when it comes to grocery store labeling.

 

1. All Natural—As defined by the USDA, “natural†or “all-natural†means the meat has been minimally processed and contains no preservatives or artificial ingredients. This simply means that no chemicals can be added to the meat during or after processing (although using a chemical disinfectant bath during process to try to reduce E. coli on the carcass is allowed) . Since virtually all fresh beef conforms to these standards, the term has no real significance. The "natural" label does not exclude meats raised using feed-grade antibiotics or hormone implants, nor does it exclude animals raised in a feedlot. The USDA does not even regulate this term on labels, meaning that meat labeled as such is not given any additional inspection. Beef bearing the USDA's "Natural" label can be grown, fed and handled in the same way as other common cattle.
   
   

 

1. Organic — Beef that carries the USDA organic logo has met the department’s standards, which prohibit the use of growth hormones, antibiotics, genetically modified feed, and animal byproducts. However, the standards do not require a grass-only diet; the animal can still be fed an unnatural and unhealthy grain based diet.
   
2. Pasture Finished—means a producer can feed his animals a “grain-based diet†as long as animals have access to pasture. The problem is that merely opening a gate from the feedlot into an adjacent “small†pasture qualifies as Pasture Finished. Unfortunately, cattle are similar to humans and prefer sweet foods like grain and corn to grass. They will, therefore, spend the majority of their time at the feed trough and a minority of time eating grass…if there is grass to eat.
   

 

1. Grass-fed—according to the USDA, "grass-fed" means an animal must have “access†to grass and pasture during its life, and the animal must get the majority of its nutrients from grass. However, there is no restriction on the use of antibiotics, hormones, or pesticides, and the program is voluntary, which means a producer may use “grass-fed†on its labels without verification. True grass-fed beef should be pasture raised from beginning to end. It is not enough to feed the animals 100% grass and hay, but not raise them in pasture. Unfortunately, the USDA's current voluntary labeling guidelines do not strictly enforce this concept. So just because it says "grass-fed" on the label does not mean the animal was grass-fed and pasture raised from beginning to end.
   

It has been well documented that the magic of grass fed beef occurs only when the animal is pasture raised AND grass fed from beginning to end. If you are truly interested in consuming healthier and more nutritious meat, you need to educate yourself and seek out local sources. The underlying theme of the 100% Grass Fed movement is to provide you with a healthier choice than what you can usually find at your local grocery store. However, unless you educate yourself, you may be fooled by some of the labeling found in your local grocery store.

[bnrmom]

We eat very little red meat (I don't eat it at all, just dh and the kids) specifically so we can buy only organic, grass fed beef. We are lucky to live in an area that has a lot of local, organic food, so it is a pretty easy for us to find.

 

I don't eat a pure diet by any stretch, but meat is the one area I will not compromise on. It's just too disgusting the way most meat is raised and processed, and it makes me sick to think about my kids eating it. I've gotten to the point where I don't even order meat in restaurants anymore, unless we are in one of our more expensive restaurants that only uses local, organic meats.

 

I would pretty much ignore the labels (they're almost worthless - natural has no meaning) and try to find a store or source for truly organic, grass fed beef, and just eat less of it in order to afford it.

[Spy Car]

The other day I went into a Whole Foods (a store I generally avoid) to get a bulk item, and they have a new (and totally misleading) labeling for their grain finished beef. I forget exactly what they call it (grass and grain?) but on hard questioning the butchers there admitted it meant nothing more than the cows ate grass at least once in their lives, and in practice it was no different than the standard feed-lot finishing that is typical of commercial beef.

 

But they are trying a labeling scam.

 

Bill

[Scuff]

We've been happy buying straight from a (small farm) farmer. The cows live happy lives in the pasture. They do eat grain in the winter and I believe they are grain-finished. But the meat is still 1000% better than what you get at the store. It tastes better and is very lean. The prices aren't that bad, either. We couldn't afford to feed this family on grass-fed prices (which are usually twice as much). But we're glad to support a local farm and get great meat, even if it's not 100% organic/grass-fed.

[DarlaS]

Hormones are used while the animal is alive, in order to boost gain. Adding them later would be useless. However, that doesn't mean that other things aren't added AFTER the steer is on the rail. We regularly get beat by hormone-implanted steers--we can't compete without it. We've made the choice to not put in the Ralgro, however! Our county fair won't allow us to advertise our chickens as raised on organic feed so we quit doing it--it was just too expensive without the payback.

 

I don't think the butcher was implying that anyone ever adds hormones to a dead animal. Just that they were allowed to label it as such if they didn't. Which... of course, they wouldn't. Not much point in it then. :tongue_smilie:

 

I'm not saying I believe that's what the label actually means. Just trying to clarify that even if his suspicions were unfounded, the butcher may not actually be an idiot who believes hormones are commonly injected into dead animals. Just a suspicious guy who doesn't trust a label.