The first review for Fusion Jerky will be on a 3 ounce/85 gram bag of their lemon pepper flavored chicken jerky. This bag was graciously submitted for review by the Fusion Jerky team.
The Fusion Jerky brand name is based of out of South San Francisco, California. It was launched in August 2014 by the owner KaiYen Mai. She was born into a family passionate about perfecting soft, traditional Asian jerky textures. Their craft and family recipes have been passed down to generations for nearly 50 years now. This jerky is manufactured by FusionRanch Inc. at a USDA compliant facility located in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. KaiYen is a proud member of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), an organization that recognizes women-owned businesses.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Chicken, Sugar, Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (Water, Soybeans, Salt, Sugar), Water, Sea Salt, Spices, Lemon Peel, Celery Powder, Orange Peel, Dehydrated Onion, Dehydrated Garlic, Natural Flavoring. Allergen Warnings: Soy
The chickens used are raised in the USA. It has been confirmed that the chickens receive no growth hormones, or additional antibiotics. That qualifies this jerky to use ethically raised chickens.
The liquid marinade consists of only gluten-free soy sauce and water. As soy sauces go, this one uses a reasonably healthy ingredient list.
Lemon Peel and orange peel are used, where both of these citrus fruits offer many health benefits. As a general rule, spices are extremely healthy. That also includes dehydrated onion and dehydrated garlic.
The sugar level is fairly high at 7 grams of sugar per 28 grams of jerky. Our preference is 3 grams of sugar or less. The salt level is also high at 420mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky. However, that is negated because minimally processed sea salt is used.
Apart from salt, interestingly celery powder is used to preserve this jerky. Celery powder has naturally occurring nitrates. That qualifies this jerky to have no sodium nitrite, or any other similar unhealthy preservatives. With further credit to Fusion Jerky, this jerky has no MSG added.
Good (8/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
These medium sized slices are mostly narrow in size, and sliced to a medium thickness. There is a borderline dry texture that is fairly easy to chew. This jerky has no visible signs of fat, and handling this jerky leaves no residue on your fingers.
No particular taste immediately jumps out other than the natural chicken flavor. The pepper level begins to slowly build. It never quite gets past a mild pepper level, but is peppery enough to justify a black pepper based flavor. There is also a noticeable light lemon flavor on the surface, but not quite strong enough tasting for a flavor advertised to be lemon based.
The soy taste is moderate, and the onion/garlic taste combination is rather faint. Somewhat surprising, this jerky is only mildly sweet tasting. Overall, a mild, pleasant blend of flavors.
This 3 ounce/85 gram bag sells online for $6.99. That works out to $2.33 an ounce, which rates as a borderline average price. They offer a very respectable flat shipping rate of $5.70 for most of the U.S.A. With a decent ingredient list used, we recommend this jerky as worth your money for people who enjoy a mild tasting lemon & pepper combination.
Bag Review
This is a standard sized resealable bag. In a clever way, the transparent window to view the jerky is shaped as a chicken. The front has a somewhat authentic looking 3/4 lemon slice, along with some dark circles, which are presumably black pepper.
This bag has no clearly defined slogans. There are a number of facts stated on the bag. Facts such as “Artisan Chicken Jerky”, “All Natural”, “High Protein”, “No Preservatives”, “Gluten-Free”, “99% Fat Free”, “Made in USA”, “Made With Chicken Breast”, “No Artificial Ingredients”, “Minimally Processed”, “Low Fat”, “No MSG”, “10 Grams Protein Per Serving”, and “No Nitrates”.
The only bag category missing is that there is no soy allergen alert displayed. There is a small, but good blurb printed on the back about Fusion Jerky. In a growing industry trend, there is a QR code displayed that links to the Fusion Jerky web site.
Order their jerky online: www.fusionjerky.com
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