Do a search for biltong on the web and you find quite a few sellers, most of them legitimate butchers. If you search on eBay, there are normally 150 sales at any one time.
eBay charges a subscription fee to have a shop (which is what you need to sell more than a few items regularly on eBay) and then they charge insertion fees and final value fees. Plus, PayPal charge for the payment you receive. So the hidden costs are quite high.
The price of beef has risen dramatically over the last few months. This week I spent about £600 more on the same amount of meat than I did 3 months ago. Biltong has a market value of I'd say between £30-£36/kg. I have seen biltong being sold on eBay for less than £20/kg. This can only mean one thing - they do not have the overheads of a butchery, which includes regular product testing, staff, rent, electricity etc., so presumably making biltong from home. How do they store their surplus biltong? Presumably in a freezer? Cross contamination? Moisture reconstitution?
I sent an email to the FSA (Food Standards Agency) which basically serves the same function as the USDA in the US and asked them about people who sell their biltong online and eBay.
This is the reply I received:
"Thank you for your e-mail about online and distance selling.
Food Business Operators (FBOs) who sell their products via distance selling or over the internet would be subject to the same requirements laid down in the Food Hygiene Regulations (Regulations (EC) Nos 852/2004 and 853/2004) as the FBOs who trade from shops. The FBO has an
individual responsibility to ensure the food is safe to eat. All FBOs are subject to be registered and inspected by the Local Authority and approved under 853/2004 is necessary."
This is all well and good, but my question now is: If you aren't registered with the Local Authorities, who monitors and approves you? Surely, if there are concerns regarding biltong, these unregistered 'businesses', and I use that in the loosest term because they probably haven't even registered as a business, should be high on the 'watch' list.
It seems that in this society, if you are honest and make a mistake, or don't get something quite right, you get punished, or are hassled to the extreme. The people who are 'illegal' from the off get away with so much and even then if/when they get caught, they get a slap on the wrist.
I'm all for getting a bargain, but the big word when buying something is VALUE. Just because the price is cheap, doesn't mean you are buying rubbish, but the reciprocal is also true - paying too much for something doesn't mean it's better. Buying biltong from Harrods or Selfridges doesn't mean you are getting better biltong, but you will pay more. If you are buying biltong because of the price tag, please be aware that there is a reason that they are able to sell so cheap.
Showing posts with label Biltong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Biltong. Show all posts
10.11.10
7.11.10
Is your Biltong safe to eat?
Biltong baffles the minds of the Environmental Health Officers (EHO's) here in the UK. It's a meat product that isn't cooked, but it's not raw and neither is it fermented. So what keeps your biltong safe to eat?
Believe it or not, there is a European directive on biltong. South African authorities have also been doing numerous tests around the country, so they are also concerned about the correct manufacturing and handling processes of biltong.
Not to get too scientific, but there is bacteria all around us, some good and some bad. Harmful bacteria like E.coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacteriaceae, Salmonella, Listeria and non harmful, like moulds. As we all know, bacteria thrive in warm, humid environments which is exactly what biltong is until it reaches a level of 'dryness'. This dryness is down to water content and water activity which along with acid (vinegar), spices (salt) and preservative, Potassium Nitrate (saltpetre) keep the bacteria at bay.
Biltong is also a ready to eat product (RTE) and cross contamination is a cause for concern as well. Even if the raw product going into the machine is clear of harmful pathogens, once it comes out of the dryer it's again at risk of contamination.
Is the biltong handled with clean hands?
Is there any raw food in the vicinity that could come in contact with the biltong.
You need a tiny amount of E.coli to cause a large case of food poisoning.
Most commercial biltong manufacturers use commercial biltong dryers, which is what we use in our butchery, that are made from stainless steel for easy cleaning and use a germicidal fluorescent UV light which kills bacteria in the early stages. The temperature is controlled and monitored whilst the biltong dries. We follow strict HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) procedures which are documented for each process in production and have regular documented microbiological tests done by Food Analysts of the end products and test each batch for water activity and PH.
When you buy your biltong from a shop, is the person handling your biltong clean, preferrably wearing a glove which they then take off when taking your cash? We have all heard stories of what people do with coins and notes.
So, to get back to the original question, is your biltong safe?
Do you know where and how your biltong is made?
Is the premises where your biltong is made, registered with the local health authority?
Do they have a HACCP they adhere to?
Do they have a testing regime in place?
You wouldn't buy cooked food from a dodgy take-away (unless you couldn't walk in a straight line), so why would you buy a ready to eat product where you have no idea how or where it is made. Biltong costs what it does for a reason. If the price is too good to be true, be very aware. There are sellers online on sites like eBay that aren't registered and are selling biltong for less than £20/kg. Be very wary of them. Your cheap biltong might be hanging around for a lot longer than you would have originally liked.
Believe it or not, there is a European directive on biltong. South African authorities have also been doing numerous tests around the country, so they are also concerned about the correct manufacturing and handling processes of biltong.
Not to get too scientific, but there is bacteria all around us, some good and some bad. Harmful bacteria like E.coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacteriaceae, Salmonella, Listeria and non harmful, like moulds. As we all know, bacteria thrive in warm, humid environments which is exactly what biltong is until it reaches a level of 'dryness'. This dryness is down to water content and water activity which along with acid (vinegar), spices (salt) and preservative, Potassium Nitrate (saltpetre) keep the bacteria at bay.
Biltong is also a ready to eat product (RTE) and cross contamination is a cause for concern as well. Even if the raw product going into the machine is clear of harmful pathogens, once it comes out of the dryer it's again at risk of contamination.
Is the biltong handled with clean hands?
Is there any raw food in the vicinity that could come in contact with the biltong.
You need a tiny amount of E.coli to cause a large case of food poisoning.
Most commercial biltong manufacturers use commercial biltong dryers, which is what we use in our butchery, that are made from stainless steel for easy cleaning and use a germicidal fluorescent UV light which kills bacteria in the early stages. The temperature is controlled and monitored whilst the biltong dries. We follow strict HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) procedures which are documented for each process in production and have regular documented microbiological tests done by Food Analysts of the end products and test each batch for water activity and PH.
When you buy your biltong from a shop, is the person handling your biltong clean, preferrably wearing a glove which they then take off when taking your cash? We have all heard stories of what people do with coins and notes.
So, to get back to the original question, is your biltong safe?
You wouldn't buy cooked food from a dodgy take-away (unless you couldn't walk in a straight line), so why would you buy a ready to eat product where you have no idea how or where it is made. Biltong costs what it does for a reason. If the price is too good to be true, be very aware. There are sellers online on sites like eBay that aren't registered and are selling biltong for less than £20/kg. Be very wary of them. Your cheap biltong might be hanging around for a lot longer than you would have originally liked.
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