One autumn rain and another cold. Recently the weather has become more tiring and colder. When it comes to eating and drinking, people are gradually turning from barbecue to steaming hot foods such as hot pot and oden. Especially the chewy and fragrant meatballs inside make people salivate just looking at them. Even when making soup at home, many people will habitually add a few meatballs to give the soup a "soul" boost.

However, the prices of meatballs on the market vary greatly. Some cost a few yuan, more than ten yuan per catty, and some cost tens of yuan per catty. There is a huge difference.

Why is this happening? Can you eat cheap meatballs? This article is here to clear up your doubts and give you some suggestions on eating meatballs.

What’s the difference between meatballs at different prices?

Meatballs are a must-have delicacy in hot pot. Many people are conflicted when buying meatballs. They feel distressed when buying expensive meatballs, but they dare not eat cheap meatballs for fear that they are made with bad ingredients.

In fact, cheap meatballs are not that bad. One of the possible reasons for the disparity in price is the difference in the use of raw materials and the different levels of meat content.

1. Cheap meatballs

Most of these meatballs are made of minced meat, starch, soy protein and various food additives, and are basically not made of pure meat.

According to the regulations in "SB/T10379-2012 Quick-frozen Prepared Foods", in quick-frozen meatball products, pork, chicken, fish, and shrimp meat only need ≥10%, and beef, mutton, and crab meat only need ≥8%. Some meatballs are cheap precisely because the meat content is low and the cost is low.

2. Medium-priced meatballs

In addition to the possible implementation of the "Quick Frozen Prepared Food" standard while increasing the pure meat content, the "SB/T10610-2011 Meatball" standard may also be implemented, which divides the levels of meatballs.

As long as the meatballs are produced in accordance with the implementation standards of "Meatballs", the minimum pure meat content is 45%. As the meat content increases, the price will naturally increase.

3. Higher-priced meatballs

Meatball ceiling level, higher meat content. For example, the Chaoshan beef balls that everyone often eats have the implementation standards of "T/CZBXBZ01-2021 Chaozhou Beef Balls" or "DBS44/005-2016 Shantou Beef Balls". The former stipulates that the beef content must be ≥80%, while the latter stipulates that the beef content must be >90%.

Of course, it is not ruled out that some meatballs that comply with the "quick-frozen prepared food" and "meatball" standards have a meat content of more than 80%, and the price of such meatballs will be relatively high.

Taken together, the price of meatballs has a great relationship with the content of pure meat in the raw materials. The higher the meat content, the higher the price will generally be.

Even so, it does not mean that cheap meatballs cannot be eaten, as long as they are produced by regular manufacturers.

Need to worry about additives?

Even though the price of some meatballs is not high, the ingredient list is very long. In addition to the familiar chicken, pork, beef, and surimi, there are many other names that look unfamiliar. What are their functions? Can they be eaten with confidence?

For example, most meatball products contain sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, and sodium pyrophosphate. These three phosphates are all moisture retaining agents, which can improve the emulsification stability of the meatballs, give the meatballs a better taste, improve the quality of the meatballs, avoid water loss with the extension of freezing time, and reduce the water loss rate. [1, 2]

Disodium 5'-flavor nucleotide is a flavor enhancer, which can improve the flavor of fish balls. If you like the taste of fish balls, it also has its role; sodium bicarbonate is a leavening agent and stabilizer, which can increase the volume of fish balls and improve the structure of fish balls; sodium polyacrylate and acetylated distarch phosphate are used as thickeners, giving the fish balls a chewy texture.

Some meatballs are added with gelatin, xanthan gum, carrageenan, etc. to make the meatballs more elastic, tough and taste better. For example, the molecular structure of carrageenan contains strong anionic sulfate ester groups, which can complex with proteins to form a good tissue structure and give the product a delicate taste and smooth cut surface. It is a good meatball additive. [2]

Many people may be worried about the impact of consuming food additives on their health. In fact, there is no need to worry too much. Without the help of these food additives, not only will the meatballs be unpalatable, but the meatballs you buy may also be dregs that have been squeezed during transportation, and may also deteriorate and smell.

You must know that it is unreliable to only talk about toxicity without talking about dosage. Regarding the use of food additives, each additive in my country has a clear scope of use and specified amount, and needs to comply with the "GB2760-2014 Standards for the Use of Food Additives". Manufacturers are not allowed to add as much as they want. As long as they are used in a standardized manner, there is no need to worry about safety issues.

In addition, each food additive has undergone a strict safety risk assessment before use, and each will undergo a sufficient toxicological evaluation to prove that it is harmless to the human body within the specified range of use. And in actual applications, the dosage used will be more conservative than in experiments. So, we don't need to worry too much.

Pay attention to these 2 points when eating meatballs

1. Reduce the amount of cooking oil used

In addition to the fat in the ingredients themselves, some meatballs also add additional oil or high-fat ingredients, such as pork fat, vegetable oil, shortening, etc., in order to enrich the taste.

The fat content of such meatballs may be high, and most of them are saturated fat. Eating too much of them is not good for cardiovascular health, especially if they squeak with oil after one bite. If you eat meatballs like this, you need to appropriately reduce the amount of cooking oil you use throughout the day.

2. Reduce the amount of salt used

Salt can not only extend the shelf life, but also improve the gelling and viscosity of minced meat,[3] and make the meatballs more delicious. The sodium content of meatballs on the market is generally not low, and some are as high as 1009mg/100g. When the sodium content is ≥800mg/100g, it is a high-salt food. [4]

The "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents" recommends that each person's daily salt intake should be controlled to <5g. Most of the weight of a meatball is about 20g. It is very easy for ordinary people to eat 5 meatballs at one time, which will consume about 2.5g of salt, reaching 1/2 of the daily salt limit. If you add hot pot dipping sauce, the salt intake will be higher.

If you don’t reduce the amount of salt used in other dishes, it’s easy to exceed your salt intake throughout the day. It doesn’t matter if you exceed the limit once or twice. Regular high-salt diet will increase the risk of high blood pressure and will also be detrimental to stomach health.

How to choose meatballs?

1. Purchase through formal channels

It is best not to buy meatballs in bulk on the street. There is no packaging information, production date, shelf life, ingredients, execution standards and other information, so it is difficult to ensure safety. Moreover, unpackaged bulk meatballs may also be contaminated and spoiled. It is best to choose regular supermarkets or buy at flagship stores of well-known brands.

2. Look at the implementation standards

If you want to buy meatballs with high meat content, you can directly buy meatballs that comply with the standards of SB/T10610, DB44/005, and T/CZBXBZ01. You can also check whether the meat content is marked on the package. For example, the one in the picture below is marked with beef content ≥95%.

3. Look at the nutrition facts table

Compare more and choose one with high protein, low fat and low sodium, which will be relatively healthier.

Summarize

Although meatballs are delicious, most of them are not low in calories, so don’t be greedy! What needs to be reminded is: when eating hot pot, the meatballs cannot be eaten immediately after they are cooked until they float. They are not yet cooked at this time, so you need to wait patiently for another 5 minutes!

References

[1] Wang Chan, Wang Huiya, Shao Qiong. Effects of three phosphates on the sensory quality and water holding capacity of fish balls [J]. Food Safety Guide, 2017,000(032):68-71.

[2] Wang Qiangyi. Effects of different additives on the quality characteristics of meatballs [J]. Journal of Hunan University of Arts and Sciences: Natural Science Edition, 2020, 32(4): 50-5459

[3] Sun Jingxin, Lei Tiantian, Ding Cuiyun, Luan Xiangxiu, & Li Shaolin. (2009). Effects of different formulas on the quality of chicken meatballs. Meat Research (3), 4.

[4] Chinese Nutrition Society. Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents[M]. People's Health Publishing House. 2022