Ordering Meat Online: Good Or Bad For Health?

With the ever-growing trend of online purchases, most people have also embraced ordering meat online. Doing so also enables you to get your favorite chops or steaks from the comfort of your home. Indeed, buying meat online provides numerous advantages, but there's still a question at the back of your mind: Is it good or is it bad for your health? 

To get more insight, read below for details on what advantages and disadvantages ordering online meat presents: 

Pros 

Ordering meat online is good for your health in the following ways: 

1. It Provides You with Lots of Options 

Online purchases enable you to access all meat types to try whatever recipe you desire. Including several meat types in your diet supplies, they have numerous nutrients that can make you healthy. Some types of meats you can access are:

• Red Meat: All livestock are categorized as red meat, for instance, goat meat, mutton, pork, and beef.  
• Seafood: Under this, there's fish, molluscs like clams or oysters, and crustaceans like crab and lobster. 
• Poultry: It's mostly known as white meat, which includes chicken and turkey. 

Every category of meat is beneficial to your health. Typically, most meat is rich in protein, vital amino acids, and collagen. Some meats also have vitamins B12, B6, and K. For this reason, consider making your order from reliable online sellers like The Meat Box or other similar ones to have your fresh and delicious meat delivered to your doorstep. 

2. It's Convenient

The convenience of online shopping is unbeatable. When you go shopping at the local supermarket, you need to plan for the shopping, take long drives, and may sometimes have to walk from one butcher store to another in search of the specific meat you want, which can be time-consuming and exhausting. However, online shopping eliminates the strain and is perfect if you're busy. In the long run, it helps you keep sane and have a relaxed mind, boosting your mental health. 

3. A Better Choice 

Mostly, supermarkets try to find a particular meat product people prefer so they can sell it. This means they may not have varieties of the meat you're looking to try out. But when you work with an online butcher, you're provided with numerous cuts since they get their meat from small local farmers. Getting your meat online allows you to get different high-quality amounts that ease your cooking, especially if you want to try out new cuisine. 

You can quickly look through your online choices and select the one you most want, whether steaks, minced meat, or farmhouse sausages, and your order is delivered to your doorstep.

4. Clear Supply Chain

Online purchase enables you to understand better where your meat is coming from. In this case, when you source your meat from reliable online butchers, you can get quality beef that you can attest is coming from a trustworthy local source. You'll also know the meat you're eating is fresh and comes from local farmers.

5. Hygiene

Your first criterion when picking a butcher is going for one with a high standard of hygiene. The butcher must handle your meat appropriately and ensure it’s clean to eliminate all the dirt or bacteria that may be present. This is where the online purchase beats the local butchers. Meat suppliers in your neighbourhood may not always adhere to high-quality hygiene standards when handling meat. 

However, most online shops have a reputation to uphold; thus, from their website, you can tell they use high standards of packaging and handle meat properly for their client. The packing is also done perfectly so that no dirt can get into the meat. They aim to deliver meat in the cleanest form possible, knowing the contamination possibilities during delivery. Thus, most online shops may have higher standards than local butcheries. 

6. Flash Frozen

Online butchers take time to ensure your meat is well-packed to preserve freshness. For instance, most of them flash-freeze meat, which means freezing your meat rapidly to stop the formation of ice crystals. It's a standard shipping convention for perishable foods, guaranteeing freshness and preventing bacterial infection.

Cons 

As much as online meat orders have advantages for your health, there are still disadvantages, as outlined below:

1. You Can't Tell If the Meat Is Fresh

As much as online purchase suffices, it's challenging to tell whether the meat you've bought is fresh simply by looking at it from the online picture. With local purchases, you can tell the meat isn't good simply by looking at its appearance and detecting strange smells. 

2. Meat Can Stay Unrefrigerated

During transportation, scorching temperatures may melt the preservation ice, which means the meat can make you get a foodborne illness. 

3. Delivery Delays May Compromise Quality

Suppose your order takes too long to get to you, perhaps due to traffic snarl-ups or mechanical breakdown of delivery vehicles. In that case, the meat may contact and grow disease-causing bacteria when the temperature climbs to 40 degrees Fahrenheit and above. This can compromise the quality of meat.

Conclusion

Ordering meat online gives you numerous healthy advantages, contrary to popular belief that it may be bad for your health. The few disadvantages can always be taken care of through proper handling and planning. For this reason, take your time to scroll through a reliable online website and start making your orders now. You'll have access to healthy meat delivered to you in the comfort of your home.