Would you eat mechanically separated meat?

I don’t mind either way – If it is cheaper then I’ll eat it – At the rate my income is decreasing under the present government mismanagement – I’ll soon be lucky if I could afford ANY meat in a week. So the choice will soon be recovered meat or no meat at all.

No thanks. In the good old days these were the ingredients of a good meat stock or soup. The joint/chicken got served on Sunday, cold on Monday and then the stock pot converted everything else. Nothing wasted. I have a stock pot, which I use. Of course, these days, It’s easy to buy tins, frozen and ready prepared products. It’s not so easy to spend time on every purchase checking the small print – and it is small and sometimes inaccessible. So, I’ll probably eat the processed meat without knowing. C’est la vie.

I’m sure this stuff is probably harmless but deeply unpleasant. My personal philosophy, like others here, is to use every bit possible from good quality meat. One organic, free-range chicken has loads more meat on it for a start. Then it will roast, leave cold cuts or left over dishes, a (very!) small treat for the cat and contribute to a gallon of excellent home made soup. As far as I’m concerned that represents better value than some scrotty ‘chicken’ kiev or reconstituted meat pie or similar.

Believe thin slices of ham and other meats sold in packets are
MRM sold less expensively; there are genuine ‘unadulterated’ cured
meats in similar packaging but a very much higher charge is made
for that, on a multiple of 2.4, 3 or even 4.

I wd assume beefburgers that specified 99% beef is made from
MRM and/or anything else from the animal.

A large blob of white meat sold in cured/processed meats service counter in
Waitrose was labelled Reformed Chicken Meat as if we do not already know,
but other supermarkets I’ve come across have never ever done that.

Personally eat very little or no cured/processed meats at all leaving
aside the question of presence of undesirable nitrites and nitrates if
nothing else.

In response to N Sykes…just to put the record straight, Michael McWhinney is my second cousin’s son. He is absolutely nothing to do with McWhinney’s Sausages and never has been. McWhinney’s Sausages is a trademarked name and I am the only person that makes them. There are hundreds of McWhinney’s, but just because people share a surname doesn’t make them connected. Hope this removes any trace of doubt.

As the OP already says we probably already are eating MRM. Frankly I haven’t got a problem with anything that reduces waste, I haven’t been able to find any national figures but looking at how much abbatoir waste some of these bio-digesters are taking (50,000 tonnes a year in one case) I get the impression too much is being thrown away.

Now, I must admit I play ignorance with such meats., I do love an occasional chicken nugget, sausage or Kiev. I’ll eat it as long as I don’t know where it’s come from.

Hi Guys

My pal is a retired butcher and he first told me about “MRM” as its known in the trade and if consumers saw the brown sludgy product and how it was made they might not be so keen on products using this additive. I dont want to debate the ethical issue here but what I particularly object to is that the Industry deliberately hides the true content. MRM can legitimately (by the EU) be called meat on labels. So your sausage could say 60% meat etc and would likely be 50% MRM.

Personally I avoid any kind of processed meat product, sausages, nuggets, salamis, pies etc.

As a student I works in the Walls Meat pie factory in Southall needless to say ………….

Consumers have the right to know what they are eating – especially for kids food.

I will not eat any product that is not normaly sourced. Ie. Sausages, pork pies, burgers, etc. In doing so my overall diet has been seriously curtailed.

I don’t understand. Why are some people – no matter how rich or poor – wanting to eat low quality Mechanically Separated Meat and turn high quality horse meat into pet food?

Shouldn’t it be the other way round? Shouldn’t we feed higher quality food to our children than we do to our pets?

I know this topic is old but interesting to read.
As an ex farmer for 20 yrs we have know too well that the middle man. The supermarkets grab the most profit and the farmers and consumers may suffer in the end.
I would just say eat what you want with in reason but excersice regular and keep and eye on fat content in general. Bring back the old times when you grew your own veg and meat like chickens and shared things.