New Warnings On Beef Labels

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - When shopping for steaks for that weekend barbecue or a tenderloin for your next special dinner, there's now something else to consider besides the cut of beef.

Whether it was mechanically tenderized.

This week new information will begin appearing on the USDA-mandated label as to whether the meat was passed through blades or needles for tenderization, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald.

Mechanically tenderizing meat is nothing new. However fears that the process may transfer pathogens, like E. Coli or salmonella, from one piece of meat to another have been raised over the last couple of years.

Because the blades or needles push into the meat, the bacteria will be inside, which means it will have to be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 145 degrees to kill it.

The new information on the labels, which may be tucked away in the fine print, is needed because you can tell if the meat was mechanically tenderized just by looking at it.

"It doesn't look any different," a spokesman for USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service told Kaiser Health News. "It's not filled with holes from the needle piercings."

About 11 percent of all beef sold is mechanically tenderized which breaks down the muscle fibers and make it easier to chew. The new labels will affect an estimated 6.2 billion servings of steaks and roasts every year, according to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed to this report.