Pie rules may lessen squirm reaction
07 October 2006
By YVONNE MARTIN

Attempts by bakers to redefine the humble Kiwi meat pie may improve its public image but will not make it healthier, say nutritionists.

Proposed changes to the rules on what can go into meat pies means that snouts, tongues and lung material may be on the way out. But animal rind, fat, connective tissue, nerves, blood vessels and chicken skin are still permitted.

Australian pie company Mrs Mac's is driving the changes to improve the image of pies and give consumers confidence that they will not find a snout in their lunch. Pies had to contain 25 per cent meat, which was any part of a slaughtered animal carcass, said Food Standards Australia New Zealand spokeswoman Lydia Buchtmann.

The new rule would require pies to have a minimum 25 per cent "meat flesh" – defined as skeletal muscle including the fat, connective tissues, nerves and blood vessels.

"They (piemakers) are trying to get rid of the perception that all sorts of weird things go into pies, when in fact they don't," said Buchtmann. "Consumers won't notice the difference. All we will do is get over this weird perception that strange things go into pies."

Public health nutritionist Bronwen King said pies were still a high-fat product and that would not change.

"In other words, the regulations will still allow pies with almost negligible lean meat content and the fat content could in fact be greater," she said. "Most people I know want meat pies to contain significant quantities of real meat, not fat or connective tissue."

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority opposed the changes, saying they would not prevent poor quality, fatty fillings. A pie could still be very fatty, as meat flesh was not necessarily higher quality meat, said the authority's director of food standards, Carol Inkster.

Mrs Mac's general manager Murray Beros said the change was sought to banish speculation that manufacturers could be putting snouts, tongues and lung matter into pies.

"We wanted to ensure that meat pie manufacturers, if there were some out there doing the wrong thing, that they couldn't," he said. "And, secondly, that it would avoid speculation by various elements of the media."

In August, Mrs Mac's was warned by the Commerce Commission about a lack of meat in its pies, following a Press investigation. Tests done for the commission revealed that the average meat content of Mrs Mac's steak pie was below that claimed on the wrapper, supporting The Press's findings.

- The Press

For Loopylu: * Homemade sausages. ;)

For Glenda: *What are sausage skins made of?
Natural skins are made of the intestines of pigs, sheep or cow's intestines. The natural skins are semi permeable and allow the sausage to 'breath' during cooking - letting some fat out and keeping the juices in. Artificial skins are made from collagen which is normally from cow skin, these tend to be used by the poorer quality sausages and are not used by many of the 700 Producers listed on the site.