Not Good News for Beef Heart Users

[Willie]

USDA says beef hearts are now OK in ground beef

By News Desk | February 3, 2017

UPDATE: Aaron Lavallee, deputy assistant administrator in the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Education, today told Food Safety News there’s nothing new about beef hearts being permitted by the regulations in ground beef.

“There is no change to FSIS regulations,” Lavallee says. “Ground beef that consumers purchase every day is made up of various cuts of meat, as allowed under federal regulations. The addition of heart and tongue meat to ground beef does not make it any less safe or wholesome to consume.”

Beef heart meat is addressed on the FSIS website– last updated on Aug. 16, 2016– and it says beef heart meat is permitted in ground beef, but also ends with this statement:

“Note: Policy memo 027, which was published in June of 1982, and a subsequent entry in the Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book under the heading GROUND BEEF state that heart meat is not an acceptable ingredient in chopped beef, ground beef, or hamburger. These guidance materials are not consistent with FSIS regulations and will be revised or rescinded as necessary.”

Guidance is not legally enforceable like regulations, but in this case appears to have had the same impact for a long time. Our original report follows.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has made it okay to use beef hearts in ground beef. It ends an almost 40-year prohibition on the use of hearts and tongues in ground beef.



The policy turnaround has caught the beef industry by surprise, with disclosure of whether ground beef is made and sold with beef hearts included not required. That has set off an industry discussion about transparency.

USDA’s long operated under “Policy Memo 027” that said beef hearts should be kept out of ground beef because consumers would not expect to fine beef hearts in ground beef. However, the new policy is also said to be consistent with a longtime FSIS definition of ground beef that also permitted beef hearts as potential ingredients in ground beef.

The change comes as USDA remains in transition, awaiting U.S. Senate confirmation of the secretary of agriculture designate and as many as 250 other political appointees to take over the agency. FSIS may be betting most consumers now will respond to beef hearts as delicacies, and not with doubts. Many chefs do.
Food safety is not a factor, just consumer reaction. That said, it is going to be a test of transparency for the beef industry. Consumers are not going to like being surprised even if they are told it involves something trendy.

And there will be some confusion for a while. Hearts are organs and made of cardiac muscle, not skeletal muscle. Heart pie has long been a favorite for Valentine’s Day.

Whether burgers shaped for their heart content do one day muscle out flowers and chocolates for Valentine’s Day remains to be seen.

[warblad79]

So too much consumption will make round and thick.

[Clawhammer]

Everyone knows if you want optimal growth, you should grow-out your children on a homemade beefheart mix!

[brewmaster15]

Willie's point is your beefheart is going to get scarce and expensive if it is added to ground beef. Supply and Demand in action.

Al

[Keith Perkins]

Well Willie, aren't you just a ray of sunshine today. I suppose the cost of heart will double or triple now.

[brady]

If it does double that means I'll being paying about 40$/lb. Ain't going to happen. Those fish are going to be
eating pizza or left overs every day.
Jay

[Keith Perkins]

If it does double that means I'll being paying about 40$/lb. Ain't going to happen. Those fish are going to be
eating pizza or left overs every day.
Jay

Dang, if mine doubles I might be paying $4 a pound.

[Dis82]

That had to be a typo, who would pay $40 a lbs.

[Lido]

Yeah, beefheart in CA is in the junk meat section. You have to go to the non gringo stores to even get it. It is pretty inexpensive here. I just don't want it in my burgers.

Maybe the title should be switched to "Not good news for my hamburger"

[Willie]

In Minnesota, I have had to fight with older generation Germans for beef heart - particularly around the holidays. I use to get it at my neighborhood Cub Foods. It's a traditional food for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. I understand that it's boiled for 4 - 5 hours and served with vinegar.

Now it's going to be in your hamburger. Makes me think twice about having my burgers rare.

Willie

[Keith Perkins]

In Minnesota, I have had to fight with older generation Germans for beef heart...

Willie

Yet another Minnesota race war, what is this world coming to?

[Willie]

Yet another Minnesota race war, what is this world coming to?

Keith;

You crack me up.

Willie

[brewmaster15]

Hey Keith,
Since Beefheart is going main stream gourmet now, maybe you guys at NADA can see about having it added as a menu option next show?

al

[bluelagoon]

A bit off subject but....Wieners can have beef heart,along with pig snout,lips,stomach,kidneys,liver ect.Eyeballs,crushed bones and testicles are not allowed.People who work at a local plant will not eat the wieners.

[Keith Perkins]

Hey Keith,
Since Beefheart is going main stream gourmet now, maybe you guys at NADA can see about having it added as a menu option next show?

al

I've wondered more than once Al how my beefheart fried up would taste. Other than probably the flake food I add to mine, there isn't anything I wouldn't eat individually.