A tasty tidbit: Beef brisket is good for you

A&M scientists say corn-fed cattle yield meat that's high in healthy fat


Texas A&M University scientists Tuesday gave a big thumbs up to barbecued beef brisket, saying the mainstay of he-man Texas cuisine is loaded with the same type of healthy fat found in olive or canola oil.

The high level of monosaturated fat found in brisket — up to 50 percent — comes from feeding cattle corn in a feedlot setting, AgriLife meat scientist Stephen Smith said. The more corn a steer eats, the higher the percentage of the good fat.

Olive and canola oils contain up to 80 percent monosaturated fat.

Smith and Texas A&M graduate student Stacey Turk, who conducted the research for her master's thesis in animal science, contend the discovery bodes well for other beef products in grocers' meat counters.

Grinding brisket, or grinding parts of brisket that contain the highest concentration of fat, could provide a healthy alternative to conventional ground beef, which typically is made from cuts higher in saturated fat, Smith said.

The key to brisket's monosaturated fat seems to be the corn-fed finishing most American cattle receive in feedlots. The same breeds of cattle fed entirely on grass do not develop the health-enhancing quality, nor is all fat in cornfed beef high in monosaturated acids.

Smith and Turk said they believe the new findings will be a boon to the beef business.

But there are concerns.

With biofuel makers now in the corn market, the golden grain is costing feedlot operators a whopping $5 a bushel, Smith noted.

And hours after Texas A&M announced its study Tuesday, the Pew Charitable Trusts and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health issued a scathing report on cattle feedlots and other aspects of modern industrial farming.

Hitting where it really hurts, other studies have indicated that grilling or barbecuing animal protein can generate heterocyclic amines linked to breast and colon cancer.

But not to worry.

Smith said Wagyu, Japanese cattle that typically spend their entire lives in pastures eating grass, also build up healthy levels of monosaturated fat in marbled flesh.

Perhaps the solution is to chow down on a delectable hunk of Wagyu. Raw.

Source: Houston Chornicle - allan.turner@chron.com