Fancy meat: More than eats the eye

Legend has it that the living dead, more commonly known as zombies, eat brains. The fact is, the living eat brains too, as well as the tongue, lungs, stomach and entrails of cows, pigs and other animals. This and other offal stories inside…if you dare!

Do you fancy fancy meat?

If you type “fancy meat” in an Internet search engine, you will likely find plenty of mouth-watering prime cut recipes. You might be surprised to learn, however, that “fancy meat” is a more appetizing way of saying the organs or glands of a pig or cow, including the brains.

The squeamish might be surprised to learn that 10 117 tonnes of fancy meat was being held in cold storage across Canada as of July 1, 2024, comparable to the amount of pork ribs in cold storage during the same period.

To put it another way, there was enough fancy meat held in cold storage nationally in July to provide every living person in Canada with approximately half a pound of fancy meat, if they were so inclined.

More fancy meat in cold storage than pork loins

There was more fancy meat in cold storage in Canada on July 1, 2024, than hams, pork loins or bone-in beef.

Fancy pork accounted for just over three-quarters (7 798 tonnes) of all fancy meat in cold storage on July 1, followed by fancy beef (2 000 tonnes).

Canadians off offal

Virtually all parts of commercial livestock slaughtered in Canada today are used in some way. The “prime” cuts are prized at the dinner table; intestines are used for sausage wrapping; the hoofs make glue. The internal organs, nerves, and other “matter” of slaughtered livestock, officially known as offal, are also available on store shelves.

According to our food availability release, which estimates the amount of food that is physically present in a country for consumption, a record low 0.26 kilograms of offal was available per Canadian in 2023, down from 0.82 kilograms a year earlier and well below the record high 2.15 kilograms of offal per Canadian available in 1960 at the beginning of the time series.

Where does our excess offal go?

If Canadians are not embracing offal like they used to, where does all our excess offal go?

In 2023, Canada exported $86.4 million of fresh or chilled bovine edible offal to Japan alone, making it by far our most important bovine offal market. Japan was also Canada’s most important export market of bovine tongues ($14.5 million).

Mexico was the largest export market for Canadian fresh or chilled swine offal in 2023, at $26.9 million.

Offal is also used as animal feed or added to commercially produced pet food or processed in a rendering plant to make fertilizer or fuel.

Unlike zombie tales, this story is true. Happy Halloween!