Crest Foods ~ Discussion on meat quality

I was talking with a friend the other day about Crest meats....the "super lean ground beef" in particular.

Both of us use LEAN ground beef for our family cooking.

Both of us have purchased the "super lean ground beef" in the pre-packaged meat counter at Crest for $3.58/lb.

Both of us have determined that this is NOT "super lean" ground beef.

I noticed when cooking it that I had to pour off ALOT of fat. Then my husband made dinner for him and the kids one night and confronted me.."are you not buying lean ground beef anymore?"

So I conducted a little experiment. I purchased ground beef at Walmart (96/4), Target (93/7) and Homeland (90/10).

I also purchased more of the "super lean" at Crest (which by the way is not marked with a percentage).

The Walmart and Target ground beef cooked up VERY little visible fat, and the Homeland ground beef (which remember, was 90/10) didn't have much more.

However once more, I poured quite bit off of the Crest ground beef, just as much if not more than from the Homeland 90/10.

So while I was at Crest doing my regular shopping, I stopped by and asked to speak with the meat manager. I informed him, quite sweetly I might add, of my findings. He told me that their "super lean ground beef" was about 95/5.

I told him that was IMPOSSIBLE! I explained to him my experiment but he stuck by his guns. I, again sweetly, suggested that he might want to double check with his supplier because what they were selling their customers was NOT "super lean" and if they were buying it under the pretense of it being "super lean", then they were being misled and possibly over-charged as well. I also told him that while I was not angry, I would no longer be purchasing my meat at Crest until I was sure I was getting what I paid for.

So we shall see. I fully do not expect them to change anything...afterall, they probably haven't received any feedback from other customers. But I did want to let you all in the loop so you can decide for yourself.

If you're like me, and lean meat is a regular item on your grocery list, than this information is quite useful and important.