If you eat meat, then chances are at some point or another you'll have come across an absorbent pad in the packaging, which you may well have nearly ended up cooking it a couple of times. You might not have given this throwaway item much thought before chucking it however, not realising the very important purpose it has in keeping your food safe for consumption.
This handy little pad does indeed soak up plenty of liquid, ensuring things don't get too messy once you get the meat home ready to cook. However, it's also key when it comes to keeping harmful bacteria at bay, and keeping you and your family healthy.
As any home cook will know, you have to be very careful when handling raw meat, which contains active bacteria with the potential to make you sick if you don't take proper precautions.
According to a recent article in Ranker, which shed light on various types of food packaging, this pad stops the meat from sitting in any liquid, which could result in more bacteria growing on it. This pad also works to soak up any juices so they don't spill all over your kitchen or fridge, spreading bacteria.
As previously reported by the publication, these pads are under very strict regulations in the US by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and each individual pad has to be individually petitioned and approved before it can go anywhere near any meat products.
As per a previous article published in MyRecipes on the same topic, most of these pads are made either from Silica gel or cellulose, which are then coated in a non-toxic, perforated plastic wrapping.
Although they may look quite flimsy, both these materials can hold more than you might think. For example, as reported by the same publication, pads from one manufacturer were found to hold as much as 40 grams of liquid.
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