D.Currie wrote:

>
> I knew a guy who'd been in the butcher trade for a long time, but quit, so
> he was telling me stories about how things "used to be" in the business.
> Like ground beef. He said that it was common practice to mix crushed ice
> with the ground beef. Two reasons. One, it kept the meat looking red and
> pretty longer. And two, they were selling ice at ground beef prices. He said
> that when he bought ground beef "now" he'd pick up stew meat and ask for
> that to be ground for him.
>

Common practice for a practical reason. When you grind something you
also heat it. Ice is added to keep the meat at safe temperatures.


> He also said that one place he worked at would take chicken that was getting
> a little "off" and would soak it in something...I'm remembering he said
> milk, but I could be very wrong about that. Then they'd take the chicken and
> go sell it cheap to markets in poor neighborhoods.
>

No need to go to poor neighborhoods for that anumore.... All of the
"fresh" meat and poultry at your neighborhood Walamrt has been
soaked/saturated in something.



> So even when it was the nice old butcher guy, there were scams afoot, it
> seems.
>
> Donna
>
>