Why Does This Piece of Beef Shine So Brightly? Is There Something Fishy Going On?
Recently, a girl posted a photo on her personal Facebook page of a “strange” piece of beef in a bowl of pho she purchased at the airport. What makes it strange is that her piece of beef sparkles with rainbow colors.
The “rainbow” piece of beef is being widely shared.
The photo quickly caught the attention of internet users, garnering over a thousand shares and comments. Most people believe that the piece of beef has some issues, such as contamination with chemicals or heavy metals, causing discoloration. Some even suggested a more sinister theory that the shop used beef contaminated with radiation.
So what’s the real story? Is the beef toxic, and if so, what kind of toxin is it? We will find out right now.
The Beef… Is Absolutely Fine
Despite its unusual color patterns, this is still a completely natural phenomenon. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), beef contains certain amounts of iron and fat.
When light interacts with a thinly sliced piece of beef, the iron and fat layers create a phenomenon of light refraction, causing the light rays to bend and form a rainbow spectrum.
This phenomenon is very normal in nature.
This phenomenon is similar to seeing a rainbow on the glossy surface of a CD – the light interacts with a surface and is refracted back.
Light interacts with a surface and is refracted back.
To explain further, Dr. Thomas Powel, executive director of the American Meat Science Association, states that when slicing a piece of beef thinly, we typically cut across the muscle fibers in the meat.
This combined with the moisture present in the beef creates a perfect surface for producing a shiny piece of meat.
Light hitting the thin piece of meat will bend, forming a rainbow.
Moreover, the meat contains certain special pigments that reflect light in a shimmering or greenish glow when exposed to heat. These pigments are not exclusive to beef, so it can be said that beef is not the only type of meat that can appear rainbow-colored.
In summary, all of the above points are just to show you that rainbow-colored beef is completely normal. So don’t throw it away, or you might be doing a disservice to the farmer!
