around for a while Q: Do you mean to tell me that the color of red meat doesn’t come from blood? Precisely that The beef you buy in the supermarket contains little to no blood, which is drained out immediately after slaughter Blood contains a pigment very similar to oxymyoglobin, called hemoglobin So, next time your friend orders his beef “bloody rare,” you can correct him, saying, “Don’t you mean rare enough that the myoglobin pigment in the muscle has not yet had a chance to break down?” Say that, then duck People who eat bloody-red beef tend to have anger management issues Labels: Natural, Grass-fed, and Organic Labeling laws in the United States are confusing at the very least and in many cases worthless And bear in mind that it’s not in the best interest of the vast majority of beef producers to make the labeling any clearer—the less the consumer knows about how meat gets on their table, the better The majority of cattle in this country are raised on pasture for most of their lives, though when pastured, their diets are supplemented with corn and other grains They are almost all finished for the last few months in high-density feedlots where they are fed a grain-based (mostly corn and soy) diet in order to promote the marbling and fattiness we find so appealing They are routinely treated with prophylactic antibiotics, not just to stave off diseases, but also to promote faster growth Regular cattle are not particularly happy animals for the last couple months of their lives Fortunately, there are alternatives at the supermarket Here are a few labels you might see and what they mean: • “Natural” means basically nothing There’s no enforcement, there are no rules It’s basically an honor system on the producer’s part, and no third party checks it • “Naturally Raised,” on the other hand, does mean something As of 2009, the label ensures that the animals are free of growth promotants and antibiotics (except coccidiostats for parasites) and that they were never fed animal by-products What this means in practical terms is that you can be assured that the meat is free of any antibiotic residue and that the cattle were raised in clean, relatively uncramped environments designed to prevent them from ever needing antibiotics • “Organic Beef” is certified and inspected by the government, and the animals must be fed completely organic feed grains and be antibiotic- and hormone-free They must also have access to pasture, though in reality “access” could be a single patch of grass on the far side of a large dirt feedlot Organic cattle are also subject to stricter enforcement in terms of humane treatment More recent legislation mandates that at least 30 percent of their dry-matter intake needs to come from pasture for 120 days out of the year That’s good news • “Grass-Fed” cattle must, at some point in their lives, have been raised on a diet of grass They not necessarily receive a 100-percent grass diet, nor are they necessarily finished on grass Most “grass-fed” cattle are fed grain for ...Fortunately, there are alternatives at the supermarket Here are a few labels you might see and what they mean: • “Natural” means basically nothing There’s no enforcement, there are no rules... basically an honor system on the producer’s part, and no third party checks it • “Naturally Raised,” on the other hand, does mean something As of 2009, the label ensures that the animals are free of... promotants and antibiotics (except coccidiostats for parasites) and that they were never fed animal by-products What this means in practical terms is that you can be assured that the meat is free of