Types of Meat

Meat is the common term used to describe the flesh or other edible parts of animals (usually domesticated cattle, swine, and sheep) used for food, including not only the muscles and fat but also the tendons and ligaments. Processed or manufactured products prepared from animal tissues are also called meat.

Containing all the amino acids necessary for the human body, meat is valued as a complete protein food. The fat of meat, which varies widely with the species, quality, and cut, is a valuable source of energy and also influences the flavour, juiciness, and tenderness of the lean.

Meats are often classified by the type of animal from which they are taken. Red meat refers to the meat taken from mammals; white meat refers to the meat taken from fowl; seafood refers to the meat taken from fish and shellfish; and game refers to meat taken from animals that are not commonly domesticated. In addition, most commonly consumed meats are specifically identified by the live animal from which they come.

The most widely consumed meat is beef, the flesh of mature cattle that normally weigh from 450 to 540 kg and yield between 55 and 60 percent of their weight in meat. Veal, the flesh of calves of cattle, is much less fatty than beef.

The pig is believed to be the world's second largest provider of meat known as pork. When taken to slaughter, pigs generally weigh between 90 and 135 kg and provide about 70 to 74 percent of that weight in meat.

Meat from lambs and sheep is produced on a much smaller scale than either beef or pork (less than one-tenth of that provided by cattle, for example). They ordinarily weigh between 45 and 70 kg, although the most select lambs may weigh no more than 14 to 18 kg and yield about 48 to 50 percent of their weight in meat.

III. Answer the questions.

1. What is meat?

2. Why is meat a complete protein food?

3. What is influenced by the fat of meat?

4. What types of meat do you know?

5. What is the most widely consumed meat?

6. What is the world’s second largest provider of meat?

 

IV. Find the English equivalents in the text.

Распространенный термин; съедобные части; переработанные или изготовленные продукты; необходимые для человеческого тела; различается широко; влияет на вкус; мясо, взятое от млекопитающих; обычно не одомашниваются; наиболее широко потребляемое мясо; считается, что свинина; в гораздо меньшем масштабе; они обычно весят.

 

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