Kesko, a Finnish food company, has been forced to remove the word ‘meat’ from the packaging of their meatballs. The product is now labeled as just ‘balls’. The reason for the change is because it has been deemed that the ‘balls’ do not contain enough meat to be classified as such.
“The balls have the equivalent of 52% meat. However, according to current legislation, they aren’t from parts of the animal that can be described as meat,” said Kesko spokeswoman Heta Rautpalo.
Part of the problem with the ‘meat’ percentage is that it is derived from mechanically separated meat (MSM).
MSM, which has been referred to as ‘white slime’, is what is extracted from the bone of the animal after the desired meat cuts have been removed.
The other 48 per cent of Kesko’s ‘balls’ are made from wheat flour, potato flour and soya protein, as well as rapeseed oil, salt and other additives, according to the Daily Mail.
Mechanically separated meat has banned in the UK since 2012.
According to the USDA,
Mechanically separated meat is a paste-like and batter-like meat product produced by forcing bones with attached edible meat under high pressure through a sieve or similar device to separate the bone from the edible meat tissue… (It) is considered inedible and is prohibited for use as human food. However, mechanically separated pork is permitted and must be labeled as “mechanically separated pork” in the ingredients statement.
Mechanically separated poultry is legal in the United States. However, it must be labeled as ‘mechanically separated chicken’ or ‘mechanically separated turkey’.
