Comment by lm28469 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by lm28469 | Hacker News Reader

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Oh no that's just the worst case scenario. Go to any Lidl or similar and look up the nutrition labels on frozen patties.

https://world.openfoodfacts.org/product/4056489047520/hambur...

> beef preparation, ingredients: 88% beef "origin: beigia), egg*, salt, wheat flour, water, yeast, herbs, spices, dextrose, beef proteins, sugar, acid: lemon - zuur, antioxidants: ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate, *of dab releieren, may contain traces of other grains containing gluten, milk, seiderij, mustard and soy

Another one: https://www.coursesu.com/p/steaks-haches-burger-prix-mini-10....

> Beef 51% (EU origin), rehydrated SOJA protein 30%, water, beef fat, vegetable fiber, salt, glucose syrup, flavoring, herbs, dehydrated beet. May contain traces of gluten.

And another: https://www.carrefour.fr/p/steaks-haches-special-burger-tend...

> beef from France 75%, water, rehydrated pea protein 3.5%, vegetable fiber, alcohol vinegar, natural flavors, dextrose, starch, dehydrated red beet, salt, pepper.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-7379565/Do-know-m...

What exactly is wrong with those ingredients lists, especially the first one? Those all look like standard things you would put in a burger patty (egg, salt, herbs, spices) with the addition of the usual preservatives and other agents to help them being a burger patty shape.

The stuff that's subbing other protein blends in... well, that seems unrelated to the beef content there. You're just picking crap patties.

When I think of beef patty, I think of buying ground beef and then making my own. It's literally as simple as salt, spices, maybe an egg, and some simple prep. No worry about pea protein or soy protein additives.

idk man you do you but my beef patties surely have more than 51% meat in them.

You should watch a few documentaries about industrial scale food factories, especially meat: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x10tzbi

What ends up in a lot of supermarket patties is the leftover of all the other "higher quality" meat parts, you get stuff like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aponeurosis &c. which don't exist in regular minced meat. We even have a term for these in France, "minerai de viande", literally "meat ore", back in the days it mostly went to the trash or for animal food. Some products are so processed that they can't be legally named "meat" but "meat preparations"

So, then make your own patties like I suggest then? Also, meat preparations seems like an accurate term for something like a patty that contains herbs, spices, and possibly egg ingredients. Nothing nefarious there to my mind.

> So, then make your own patties like I suggest then?

Sure, but look at what people buy ... the "meat bad" argument (the start of this conversation) comes from the fact that people are allowed to consume absolute garbage. A steak from your local farmer hasn't much to do with your cheap supermarket bacon or the "51% meat" patty which are both much more processed and contains god knows what

Can hamburger meat contain other ingredients?

If labeled as a "Hamburger," it can contain all beef or beef and beef fat. Other permitted ingredients include dry seasonings like spices and flavorings. Water (and other liquids) and fillers (like breadcrumbs and flours) are not permitted. Products including these ingredients may be called "Beef Patties" and the added ingredients must be listed on the label. https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Can-hamburger-meat-contain-ot...

For the US, obviously. You sound like you may be in another country.

I'll add that LFTB (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_slime), which is meat, can be up to 15% of the content of ground beef.

It seems the problem is that Europe has crap ground beef. That's not a problem in America, since we like our ground beef.

This is pretty typical of the Ingredients list for a burger patty in the U.S.: https://www.vons.com/shop/product-details.960119123.html?pro...

100% ground beef

That's true of the patties ground up by the store's butcher and the ones in the freezer section. It's also true of our ground beef (aka minced meat).

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