Buffalo meat has, over the past 5-10 years, become well known as a healthy alternative to beef.
Media mogul Ted Turner has even opened a restaurant, Ted's Montana Grill, based on this premise.
Cuts of buffalo meat are now available at many grocery stores, with more likely to follow.
The big question is, does buffalo meat really merit this standing? Or has marketing hype once again trumped solid information and common sense? I'm going to suggest it's a bit of both.
Buffalo meat is leaner than beef when cut, trimmed, and prepared exactly the same way.
But therein lies the problem.
Let's start by look at some numbers.
Statistics may be a tad boring, but they're an important determinant in the quality of our conclusion.
Per the USDA's nutrient data laboratory free-range, top round, cooked buffalo meat contains approximately 11% fat calories.
Free-range refers to the fact that the animal was raised on the open plain and allowed to roam free.
11% of calories from fat is pretty darn lean, I'd say.
There are no numbers for free range beef in the database to compare with, but even chicken breast, one of the gold standards of lean meat, is somewhere in the 15-20% fat calorie range.
So far, so good for buffalo meat's lean status.
In order to dig further into the truth, we really need to clarify our terms.
What type of cut are we talking about? How was it prepared by the butcher and how much fat was trimmed off before being cooked or ground? How was the animal raised? The leanness of a cut of meat really, truly depends on these factors.
We can't assume that all buffalo meat available at the grocery store or restaurant is prepared the same way as described above.
When we begin to ask and answer these questions, some interesting information comes to light.
The same USDA nutrient database says that 95% lean (by weight, not calories) raw ground beef contains 32% fat calories, while regular ground bison contains a whopping 64% of fat calories.
Both are ground, but buffalo has double the fat in this example simply because it was prepared differently! If we compare beef top sirloin, trimmed to 0% visible fat, then broiled, you'd get 31% of your calories from fat.
A 1-inch top sirloin steak from a bison, broiled, contains 30% fat calories.
These number are comparable, again simply because of how the meats were processed.
Let's now look at some numbers directly from Ted's Montana Grill.
A quick analysis shows that this restaurant must not use much in the way of lean cuts of buffalo meat.
Check out the restaurant's nutrient guide for yourself.
Only 3 of his 10 salads or entrees that contain bison come in at less than 30% fat calories.
The average of all 10 salads is a whopping 46% fat calories.
His burger comes in at a hefty 57% fat calories.
Remember, as I mentioned above 95% lean ground beef is a comparatively healthy 32% fat calories.
Hopefully you are getting a sense of the point I'm trying to make.
Because something simply says 'buffalo meat', you can't assume that it's necessarily lean.
If it was raised and prepared right, then might be okay.
If not, your arteries won't know the difference between fatty beef and fatty buffalo.
My advice is to get the facts for yourself and learn to read labels and nutrition information.
Don't rely on the product's salesman to do it for you.
Media mogul Ted Turner has even opened a restaurant, Ted's Montana Grill, based on this premise.
Cuts of buffalo meat are now available at many grocery stores, with more likely to follow.
The big question is, does buffalo meat really merit this standing? Or has marketing hype once again trumped solid information and common sense? I'm going to suggest it's a bit of both.
Buffalo meat is leaner than beef when cut, trimmed, and prepared exactly the same way.
But therein lies the problem.
Let's start by look at some numbers.
Statistics may be a tad boring, but they're an important determinant in the quality of our conclusion.
Per the USDA's nutrient data laboratory free-range, top round, cooked buffalo meat contains approximately 11% fat calories.
Free-range refers to the fact that the animal was raised on the open plain and allowed to roam free.
11% of calories from fat is pretty darn lean, I'd say.
There are no numbers for free range beef in the database to compare with, but even chicken breast, one of the gold standards of lean meat, is somewhere in the 15-20% fat calorie range.
So far, so good for buffalo meat's lean status.
In order to dig further into the truth, we really need to clarify our terms.
What type of cut are we talking about? How was it prepared by the butcher and how much fat was trimmed off before being cooked or ground? How was the animal raised? The leanness of a cut of meat really, truly depends on these factors.
We can't assume that all buffalo meat available at the grocery store or restaurant is prepared the same way as described above.
When we begin to ask and answer these questions, some interesting information comes to light.
The same USDA nutrient database says that 95% lean (by weight, not calories) raw ground beef contains 32% fat calories, while regular ground bison contains a whopping 64% of fat calories.
Both are ground, but buffalo has double the fat in this example simply because it was prepared differently! If we compare beef top sirloin, trimmed to 0% visible fat, then broiled, you'd get 31% of your calories from fat.
A 1-inch top sirloin steak from a bison, broiled, contains 30% fat calories.
These number are comparable, again simply because of how the meats were processed.
Let's now look at some numbers directly from Ted's Montana Grill.
A quick analysis shows that this restaurant must not use much in the way of lean cuts of buffalo meat.
Check out the restaurant's nutrient guide for yourself.
Only 3 of his 10 salads or entrees that contain bison come in at less than 30% fat calories.
The average of all 10 salads is a whopping 46% fat calories.
His burger comes in at a hefty 57% fat calories.
Remember, as I mentioned above 95% lean ground beef is a comparatively healthy 32% fat calories.
Hopefully you are getting a sense of the point I'm trying to make.
Because something simply says 'buffalo meat', you can't assume that it's necessarily lean.
If it was raised and prepared right, then might be okay.
If not, your arteries won't know the difference between fatty beef and fatty buffalo.
My advice is to get the facts for yourself and learn to read labels and nutrition information.
Don't rely on the product's salesman to do it for you.