The New Complete Book of Food
as antioxidants. Once the can is open, however, the meat should be protected from oxygen
that will change the flavor of the beef.
Curing. Salt-curing preserves meat through osmosis, the physical reaction in which liquids
flow across a membrane, such as the wall of a cell, from a less dense to a more dense solution.
The salt or sugar used in curing dissolves in the liquid on the surface of the meat to make a
solution that is more dense than the liquid inside the cells of the meat. Water flows out of
the meat and out of the cells of any microorganisms living on the meat, killing the microor-
ganisms and protecting the meat from bacterial damage. Salt-cured meat is much higher in
sodium than fresh meat.
Freezing. When you freeze beef, the water inside its cells freezes into sharp ice crystals that
can puncture cell membranes. When the beef thaws, moisture (and some of the B vitamins)
will leak out through these torn cell walls. The loss of moisture is irreversible, but some of
the vitamins can be saved by using the drippings when the meat is cooked. Freezing may
also cause freezer burn—dry spots left when moisture evaporates from the surface of the
meat. Waxed freezer paper is designed specifically to hold the moisture in meat; plastic wrap
and aluminum foil are less effective. NOTE: Commercially prepared beef, which is frozen
very quickly at very low temperatures, is less likely to show changes in texture.
Irradiation. Irradiation makes meat safer by exposing it to gamma rays, the kind of high-
energy ionizing radiation that kills living cells, including bacteria. Irradiation does not change
the way meat looks, feels or tastes, or make the food radioactive, but it does alter the structure
of some naturally occurring chemicals in beef, breaking molecules apart to form new com-
pounds called radiolytic products (RP). About 90 percent of RPs are also found in nonirradiated
foods. The rest, called unique radiolytic products (URP), are found only in irradiated foods.
There is currently no evidence to suggest that URPs are harmful; irradiation is an approved
technique in more than 37 countries around the world, including the United States.
Smoking. Hanging cured or salted meat over an open fire slowly dries the meat, kills micro-
organisms on its surface, and gives the meat a rich, “smoky” flavor that varies with the wood
used in the fire. Meats smoked over an open fire are exposed to carcinogenic chemicals in
the smoke, including a-benzopyrene. Meats treated with “artificial smoke flavoring” are not,
since the flavoring is commercially treated to remove tar and a-benzopyrene.Medical Uses and/or Benefits
Treating and/or preventing iron deficiency. Without meat in the diet, it is virtually impossible
for an adult woman to meet her iron requirement without supplements. One cooked 3.5-
ounce hamburger provides about 2.9 mg iron, 16 percent of the RDA for an adult woman of
childbearing age.
Possible anti-diabetes activity. CLA may also prevent type 2 diabetes, also called adult-onset
diabetes, a non-insulin-dependent form of the disease. At Purdue University, rats bred to
develop diabetes spontaneously between eight and 10 weeks of age stayed healthy when
given CLA supplements.