Abstract
Nutrient composition data, representative of the retail supply, is required to support labelling and dietetic practice. Because beef mince represents approximately 30% of all beef dishes prepared in Australian households, a national survey of the different types of mince available for purchase in representative retail outlets was conducted. Sixty-one samples of beef mince from 24 retail outlets in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia were collected in 2010 and analysed for moisture, protein, total fat and fatty acid profile. A variety of 18 different descriptors were used at point of sale with “Premium” (n = 15) and “Regular” (n = 8) the most commonly used terms. The analysed fat content of “Premium” samples varied from 2.2 g/100 g to 8.0 g/100 g. Forty-eight percent (n = 29) of the samples were categorised as low fat (<5 g/100 g; mean 4.1 g/100 g), 21% as medium fat (5–10 g/100 g; mean 8.9 g/100 g) and 31% as high fat (>10 g/100 g; mean 10.4 g/100 g). There was no significant difference between the types of mince available for purchase in low versus high socio-economic suburbs (Chi-square, p > 0.05). In conclusion, the fat content of the majority of retail beef mince in Australia is <10 g/100 g and a variety of descriptors are used at point of sale, all of which do not necessarily reflect analysed fat content.
Highlights
Beef mince is commonly consumed in Australia, representing approximately 30% of all beef dishes served [1]
Whilst some descriptors were suggestive of the total fat content of beef mince, such as
These findings are consistent with others who found that the fat content of retail beef and lamb cuts did not vary systematically with either type of retail outlet or socioeconomic area [12,13]
Summary
Beef mince is commonly consumed in Australia, representing approximately 30% of all beef dishes served [1]. Up-to-date nutrient composition data representative of beef mince as typically consumed by Australians is required to support labelling, nutrition research and dietetic practice. Food Standards Australia and New Zealand’s food and nutrient database, NUTTAB2010 [2], contains nutrient data for 2668 foods available in Australia, including beef mince. There are two main types of fat-related descriptors used to reflect types of beef mince in the nutrient database. NUTTAB2006 [3], the most recent database at the time of this study, provided data using four types of beef mince descriptors: (i) hamburger; (ii) regular; (iii) premium and (iv) low fat. The current version, NUTTAB2010 provides data for two types of beef mince: (i) low fat including lean or heart smart and (ii) regular. The main difference between the different descriptors used to describe beef mince was their total fat content. In NUTTAB2006, total fat content varied from 12.1 g/100 g in “hamburger”
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