Steak mince

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33252, 15 June 1973, Page 8

Steak mince

Sir, —Twice in your paper last week, I saw a supermarket advertising steak mince for 52 cents per lb. According to the N.Z. Standard Specification you are only allowed to make steak mince out of certain steaks. Paragraph 203 specifies rump, eye fillet, undercut, porterhouse, topside, club eye, thick flank, blade, skirt, silverside or chuck. It stands to reason that, if a firm can afford the time to mince such steaks, it should be able to sell the unminced steak cheaper. Are the public getting steak mince? Or are they just getting lean beef mince labelled as steak mince. I know; but I think that the public should know also.— Yours, etc., GEO. A. SIMPSON. Waikari, June 4, 1973. [The district officer for the Department of Trade and Industry in Christchurch (Mr G. C. Maclachlan) replies: "Steak mince must be made from particular beef cuts defined in the New Zealand Standard Specification 681, although ordinary mince comprises lean trimming from various carcases. An investigation has shown that the butcher to whose advertisements your correspondent refers has complied with the standard specification in respect of steak mince. Steak mince may be sold more cheaply than its constituent beef cuts, because only the trimming of these steaks, and pieces too small to be sold as steaks, are minced. All meat sold by retailers is subject to the Board of Trade Meat Grading Regulations, 1943; and all cuts must conform with the New Zealand Standard Specification No. 681. Sheepmeats only are subject to price control, and on these lines, maximum prices per pound have been set. If any reader has a specific complaint concerning meat, my office would be pleased to investigate.”]