This Rite Aid brand of beef jerky was purchased in 2010 at a Rite Aid store in Ventura, California. It was a 3.25 ounce/92 gram bag of Rite Aid’s honey bbq flavor.
This jerky is distributed by Rite Aid Corporation located in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.The jerky itself was made by Marfood USA, or possibly Mirab USA, I think they are the same company now. This is a very large company who makes jerky for most of the large chain stores, plus many other stores, acting as a private labeler. That would classify this bag of jerky as using a stock recipe.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Water, Honey, Sugar, Salt, Brown Sugar, Maltodextrin, Smoke Flavor Powder, Tomato Powder, Chili Pepper Powder, Spices (Allspice, Black Pepper Powder, Red Pepper Powder), Apple Cider Vinegar, Monosodium Glutamate, Citric Acid, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Onion Powder, Disodium Inosinate, Caramel Color (For Flavor), Sodium Nitrite
Chunked and formed jerky is made from chopped meat that is molded and formed, then cut into strips. It is highly processed, and very similar to chopped and formed jerky. The beef itself was imported from Argentina, South America, and further processed in the USA.
The liquid marinade consists of water, honey, and very healthy apple cider vinegar. A big brand of honey was likely used. Local honey can be healthy if eaten in small amounts. Big brand honey barely has any pollen, and hardly even resembles pure honey.
There are some healthy spices used such as chili pepper powder, allspice, black pepper, and red pepper powder. Tomato powder is also healthy, and loaded with the powerful antioxidant lycopene.
The sugar level is fairly high at 6 grams of sugar per 28 grams of jerky. A honey based flavor by definition is a sweet taste, so the preference is 5 grams of sugar or less. The salt level is extremely high at 700mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky. Our preference is 350mg of salt or less.
This jerky uses unhealthy sodium erythorbate and sodium nitrite as the main preservatives apart from salt. Sodium Tripolyphosphate is believed to be unhealthy, and used to give food a fresh look. This jerky does not qualify to be MSG free, as it uses MSG outright. Disodium inosinate is also used, which synergistically makes the MSG that much stronger tasting.
Very Bad (2/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
As advertised, this jerky did have a very soft and tender texture. Being chunked and formed, there is an unappealing processed beef flavor. The honey taste was not overly noticeable.
This 3.25 ounce/92 gram bag of jerky cost of $4.29. That works out to $1.32 an ounce, which rates as a cheap price. Given that there is an unhealthy ingredient list used, this jerky is not worth your money.
Terrible (1/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
This is a stock bag, meaning it could be shared by multiple jerky brands. There are labels affixed to both the front and back.
There are no slogans. Some facts printed on this bag are “Good Source of Protein”, “Low in Fat”, “Hand Chunked & Formed From Solid Strips of Beef”, “Soft & Tender”, and “Smoke Flavor Added”.
All bag categories are covered. There is a blurb written on the back about this jerky, but that is shared by multiple jerky brands. There is a satisfaction guarantee offered for this jerky.
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