Anyone know about Lidl meat?

spiddy100

Sorry if this has been done elsewhere, I did a search and didn't find anything.

Does anyone know about the provenance of Lidl meat? We don't eat a lot of meat and I have to say the prices are tempting, but cheap meat usually means alarm bells (quality, animal welfare etc).

Does anyone have any information on this please?

Thanks

Ken68

Hi Spiddy, they got done in my town recently for fat content being wrong, but can't fault the meat otherwise.
Don't eat a lot tho because am on minimum fat 3% diet, so fish mainly.
All these restrictions on meat production...location, herd numbering country of origin etc is just putting me orf buying the damn stuff.
Did read recently that sufficient protein is taken into the body anyway, as long as you eat enough food to fulfill your energy requirements.
This was also on the TV last night BBC when people tested for 12 days a 'gatherer' harvest, i.e. fruit ,berries ,roots ,veg and greens.
No problem except for wind :-)

tr3mor

Most of the refridgerated meat in Lidl comes from the UK and Ireland. It can't be any worse than the standard of the meat in other supermarkets.

In my opinion it's pretty tasty and cheap - especially the beef.

crutches

we looked at value sausages in tesco(meat content less than 20%) and at the cheapest lidl ones (85 %+).
everything we've had from lidl seems to be of a high standard especially the salami/bratwurst.

arkonite_babe

The way I look at it is this........

Lots of things over here we would class as a luxury item, salamis, parma ham etc But in Lidl those are staple items. Now granted the choice can be hit and miss at times, but I for one have had far worse quality in the likes of the big supermarkets than I ever have had from Lidl.

spiddy100

Thanks everyone. TBH I'm not too squeamish about actually eating the meat, I've had lovely deli-style meats from there in particular, and some lovely steak. Crutches, I read somewhere online (while trying to answer this same question), that in Germany there is a standard which says that the content of the meat pies can't be less than 70% meat, which is way higher than similar UK standards.

But I remember reading somewhere that Asda could only produce their chickens at <£3 each because they (their suppliers) keep them in appallng conditions and fed them hormones which make them grow quickly. Apparently you could not buy enough feed for £3 to feed a 'normal' chicken in the time it takes them to grow to that weight.

Lidl's chickens are less than £2, so on that basis, presumably that mean they are likely to have been raised with less than perfect welfare standards? If so, I think I'd rather steer clear and eat chicken twice a month from the farm shop, rather than every week from Lidl.

tr3mor

spiddy100 wrote:

Lidl's chickens are less than £2, so on that basis, presumably that mean they are likely to have been raised with less than perfect welfare standards? If so, I think I'd rather steer clear and eat chicken twice a month from the farm shop, rather than every week from Lidl.

Yeah, they're probably bred in awful conditions. They're no better than any other supermarket in that respect, but no worse either.

If you want free range happy chickens steer clear of all supermarkets.

in_my_wellies

I tend to eat chicken less oten but buy one from a rusted butcher but I bought chicken portions from Lidl and my very fussy DH commented on how good they were. I had to admit very little nasty fat came off them.

I always look at the back of the chickens legs, the scaly bit by the joint. If that joint is browner than the rest of the skin it means the birds bones were too weak to support it and it was resting on is knees, poor things.

spiddy100

Sounds like they are probably the same as any other supermarket - will stick to farm shop mostly but maybe pick up some meat every now and again from Lidl, it obviously tastes fine

Thanks everyone

abisnail75

Did you know that Lidl is run by the brother of the guy than runs Aldi?

I guess they share their buying power along the way somewhere too so it probably accounts for some of the lower prices. I have no hesitation shopping at either. Saves a packet! :T

IHateDida

Having worked for one of the discounter's head office - I can confirm that they use the same suppliers as the rest of the major supermarkets. We'd do tasting sessions comparing ours with the others - as the company would ask for their product to be superior in terms of taste, but in terms of animal welfare they are all the same - same suppliers - same appalling conditions for the animals. I personally don't eat meat, but if I did, I know the products all come from the same suppliers - so buying from say, Lidl's is pretty much the same as buying from Tescos. The only exception really is the wine - the discounters have much better quality stuff - usually sourced directly from their own European suppliers.