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Mystery meat is a disparaging term formeat products that have an unidentifiable source, typicallyground or otherwiseultra-processed foods such asburger patties,chicken nuggets,Salisbury steaks,sausages andhot dogs. Most often the term is used in reference to food served in institutionalcafeterias, such asprison food or a North Americanschool lunch.[1][2]
The term is also sometimes applied to meat products where the species from which the meat has come from is known, but thecuts of meat used are unknown. This is often the case where the cuts of meat used includeoffal andmechanically separated meat, or when non-meat substitutes such astextured vegetable protein are used to stretch the meat, where explicitly stating the type of meat used might diminish the perceived palatability of the product to some purchasers.[citation needed]
In 2016,Nissin, a Japanese food company that producesCup Noodles, started to call their ingredients as self-deprecatingNazoniku (lit. 'Mystery Meat') as part of their official marketing campaign. Nazoniku, or formally known asDaisuminchi (lit. 'Minced Meat Dice'), is made from pork, soybeans and other ingredients.[3]
