The Great Canadian Meat Company shortened their brand name to Great Canadian Meat, and they were founded in 1992 as a two-man operation. With their deli line and jerky, Great Canadian Meat has grown to become one of the largest lines of meat snacks in Canada. It is a fairly common sight to see Great Canadian Meat beef jerky for sale in Ontario convenience stores.
Great Canadian Meat has continually strived to create one of Canada’s premier snack food experiences, and they pride themselves on being a Canadian company using the finest Canadian ingredients whenever possible. They source their pork from Quebec and their beef from Western Canada – ensuring the purest of meats from within our borders. They pride themselves on processing through a federally inspected, HACCP-approved, state-of-the-art facility. They’re solidifying their role as a truly Canadian company producing high-quality, tasty meat snacks for their valued customers. This jerky is distributed by The Great Canadian Meat Company, who are located in Whitby, Ontario, Canada.
The next jerky review will focus on a 2.4 ounce/68 gram bag of original beef jerky from Great Canadian Meat. This is our third review on this flavour, where the bag design has been tweaked. The jerky was graciously submitted for review by Director of Marketing Nicholas Gerald.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Water, Apple Juice, Sea Salt, Soy Sauce, Cider Vinegar, Cane Sugar, Brown Sugar, Dextrose, Natural Flavours, Spices, Molasses, Garlic, Yeast Extract, Sodium Ascorbate, Sodium Nitrite, Smoke Allergen Warnings: Soy
The beef sourced from Alberta used is not guaranteed to be free of growth hormones or additional antibiotics. Also, the beef is not guaranteed to have at least partial free range access to graze on grass. As a result, the highest ingredient rating that can be awarded is a Good (8/10) rating.
The liquid marinade is comprised of just water and healthy apple juice.
There are some healthy ingredients added, such as spices and garlic. The vague term natural flavours is listed, which may or may not contain healthy ingredients.
The sugar level is high at 7 grams of sugar per 23 grams of jerky to lose a rating. Our preference is 3 grams of sugar or under per 28 grams of jerky for an original based flavour as we have here. The salt level is sort of high at 349mg of salt per 23 grams of jerky. However, the sodium level is ignored because healthy, minimally processed sea salt is added instead of highly processed table salt.
This jerky does qualify to have no sodium nitrite as sodium nitrite is used outright. Admirably, this jerky qualifies to have no MSG added.
Alright (6/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
GREAT CANADIAN MEAT – ORIGINAL BEEF JERKY
Written by guest jerky reviewer Paul Rekker
When I open the bag I smell soy. The pieces are small, thin, and solid(ish), if that’s even a word. The jerky is a little bit moist, and there is an ever so slight oily residue on your fingers.
When I bite into the jerky, I taste salt, pepper, slight garlic, soy, mild sweet, and some natural beef. I may be detecting an ever so slight kick in the background, nothing special, but very faint.
I have no reason to dislike this jerky. As a matter of fact, I am rather enjoying this flavour of jerky, but it is by no means blowing me away. I would say that this review, as well as my taste buds, would rate this flavour of jerky as an 8/10. Gentlemen?
Written by guest jerky reviewer Stéphane Leclerc
This Great Canadian Meat Original Jerky is mostly uneventful; it tastes and feels rather ordinary. This jerky is described as Original, and the flavors of soya, garlic, and sweetness are more reminiscent of a Teriyaki flavor. I did find a hint of spiciness which made this flavor a little more interesting, and it still did not break away from my original impression.
All in all, I did enjoy this Great Canadian Meat Jerky. I do have somewhat of a challenge to reconcile this jerky as an original. I still gave this jerky an 8 out of 10 Taste Rating.
Here is what Mark had to say about this original beef jerky flavor from Great Canadian Meat: “Thanks Paul and Stéphane for the honest taste reviews. It is unanimous. We are all at an 8 taste rating. I found this flavour to be a little too sweet tasting for an original flavour. I also find that the natural taste of beef does not come across all that well. Other than that, this flavour does taste good but by no means blows me away.”
This 2.4 ounce/68 gram bag of jerky sells online for cost $5.50. That works out to $2.29 an ounce, which rates as a cheap price.
Bag Review
This professional-looking resealable plastic bag has everything imprinted directly on the bag, both on the front and back. There are no labels affixed to this bag. The Great Canadian Meat logo has a red maple leaf.
Their slogans are “Genuine Jerky” and “Eat Some Energy”. Some facts printed on this bag are “Low in Fat”, “High in Protein”, “9g Protein”, “Gluten Free”, “Made in Canada”, and “Canadian GCMC25”.
All bag categories are covered with this bag. A good blurb is printed on the back about Great Canadian Meat jerky. In accordance with Canadian law, there are French translations provided.
Excellent (10/10) – Bag Rating
Order their jerky online: www.greatcanadianmeat.com
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