Meat, meat, meat. When it comes to grilling, there’s nothing Germans would rather throw on the grill. Although meat consumption has been declining for several years, steak, shashlik and burger patties should not be missing for many. Particularly popular: the marinated pork neck steak – often inexpensive from the supermarket or discounter. But whoever buys there also buys quality? And what about animal welfare with these products? Stiftung Warentest has tested twelve pork neck steak variants and also shows that tasty does not necessarily mean high quality.
The pork neck steak is an absolute classic in the refrigerated counter – packaged and soaked in marinade. For some, this is still the holy grail of grilled food, while others turn up their noses and criticize that the spicy marinade is intended to hide the fact that the meat is of inferior quality. At first glance, the test results are impressive. In terms of taste and smell, none of the products scored worse than “good”, three are even “very good”. Unfortunately, this says nothing about the germ load.
Ironically, the testers found listeria in the tasty organic pork neck steaks from Aldi Nord Gut Bio. The germs can cause flu-like symptoms such as fever, but also vomiting and diarrhea. Salmonella was also found in one of four packs of conventionally produced meat from the “Barbecue” version of Netto. Salmonella can trigger symptoms such as sudden diarrhea and vomiting. If the meat is properly heated, the germs die and no longer pose a health risk. Nevertheless, care should be taken when handling it. The two products end up with the overall rating “satisfactory” at the end of the comparison.
In fact, most of the meat in the test comes from conventional production and level 2 husbandry. When it comes to labelling, the larger the number, the more animal welfare. Nine of the tested products therefore meet “just a little more than the minimum requirements”, according to Warentest. Only three pork neck steak products bear the organic seal and come from level 4 husbandry. This is the premium version, so to speak, which stipulates, among other things, that the animals only get GMO-free feed and that the pigs have to be able to exercise permanently. This is also reflected in the price. The cheapest pack with conventionally produced pork neck steaks costs eight euros, for the cheapest organic product you have to shell out around four euros more. The amount of meat in the packs also differs. There are usually four steaks in conventional products, and two in those with an organic seal.
Which meat ends up in the shopping basket is also a question of attitude in the truest sense of the word. Because of the three pork neck steaks rated best by Warentest (grade 2.1), two come from conventional production. Both the steaks from Kaufland “Purland Let’s BBQ Mexico Style” and those from Norma “Gut Bartenhof” are on par with the organic pork neck steaks from Rewe Bio. If animal welfare is not that important, you can use the cheap ones from Kaufland and Norma, eight euros each. The environmentally and animal-friendly product from Rewe costs a whopping 22.90 euros – for two steaks. This is the most expensive product in the test, but according to the testers the steaks taste “the only one that is juicy and very tender”.
If you buy grilled meat, you should know that it is usually meat that has already been frozen. This is also the case with three quarters of the steaks tested according to the label. On the one hand, freezing protects against bacterial growth, on the other hand, it can affect the quality of the meat.
You can read the complete test for a fee at test.de.
