Surprising truth about the red liquid found in packaged meats

You know when you open up a fresh pack of red meat only to find a pool of red liquid at the bottom of the packaging? Or when you cut into a tender, rare steak and see the red juices drip from your fork? It’s blood, right?

Well, contrary to popular belief, it’s actually not blood. According to Food Safety Plus scientist Edward McCartney, the bulk of this liquid originates from an animal’s muscle cells — rather than blood cells — which is then released as the meat is cut and processed.

“The red colour comes from a protein called myoglobin which mixes with intracellular fluid from the cut meat, creating the red liquid,’ McCartney told Yahoo Lifestyle. “The red colour is from iron and oxygen in the myoglobin.”

Meat & Livestock Australia also confirmed that the fluid is a mix of water and myoglobin, rather than blood.

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The commonly misconstrued topic was recently brought to light after Australian celebrity chef and meat scientist Jess Spryles took to TikTok to explain what the blood-like liquid actually was.

“All of this juice in the bag, well that’s what we call purge,” Spryles explained. “It’s basically the water that’s naturally inside the meat that’s coloured with a protein called myoglobin. That’s the protein that gives meat its red colour, and it can also change to other colours.

“So when it’s in a purple state, it's deoxymyoglobin, when it’s in a cherry red state it’s oxymyoglobin, and when it starts to turn brown, that’s what we call metmyoglobin. But it’s all variations of the same thing, and it’s not blood.”

What is myoglobin, and why does it look like blood?

You’re probably familiar with haemoglobin, AKA blood, which is a type of protein found in red blood cells all over the body. Myoglobin, on the other hand, is a different type of protein and is mainly found in muscle tissue. Essentially, haemoglobin transports oxygen, while myoglobin stores oxygen.

When this liquid is purged from the meat we buy or cook, the colour of the fluid is determined by how old the animal was — and other factors such as its diet, or even how active the animal was. The younger the animal, the lighter the colour of this liquid (for example pork generally contains a lighter-coloured liquid as the pig is harvested younger, compared to a cow which is harvested later in its life).

It also changes colour as the water evaporates from the meat, which is why a well-done steak will appear darker in colour with little to no juices, while a rare steak will still hold some red liquid.

“Red meat like beef has a lot of myoglobin, so it has that intense red colour,” Spryles added in her video. “But meats like pork and chicken don’t have as much, which is why they’re a pale pink.

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If you’re purchasing meats like wild game, you might notice that they’re quite a deep colour, which Spryles says is likely due to the animal’s active lifestyle in the wild.

So, next time you get the ick from the liquid in packaged meat, or hear someone complain about the ‘blood’ on their steak — remember, it’s not blood. It’s just protein. I don’t know if that necessarily makes it less gross, but it may help ease the minds of the faint-hearted.

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