Topics: Animals, Food and Drink, Social Media, Twitter, Vegan
People are flocking to social media in horror over a 'weird and terrifying' video of what happens to muscle in meat not long after the animal has been killed.
If you've been debating going veggie or vegan but needed a final push then it seems you've come to the right place.
A video shared to Twitter by account Weird and Terrifying shows what happens when you 'add salt to freshly cut muscle'.
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The clip shows someone holding up a slab of meat to the camera - with the meat doing a similar movement to Ron's face after he attempted the slug-vomiting charm on Malfoy but ended up cursing himself instead in Harry Potter.
The meat bubbles and twitches as if the animal is still alive and it's not taken long for people to weigh in on their thoughts.
One Twitter user said: "Well, this picture could make me give up eating meat."
"Glad I gave up meat 21 years ago," another wrote.
A third commented: "That is weird and terrifying"
A fourth added: "I could’ve gone my whole life without seeing this s**t but naaaahh ofc Twitter."
And a fifth resolved: "I've just ordered a salad."
But why did the meat move in such a 'gross' way?
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has a whole page explaining 'post-slaughter factors affecting red meat quality'.
The AHDB explains: "Following slaughter, the supply of blood to the muscles ceases, and any remaining energy is used up. This is commonly seen as muscles twitching/tensing. Once this energy is depleted, muscle proteins begin to bind during a process referred to as rigor mortis.
"The pH of living tissue is around 7. When the animal dies, the energy within the muscle is used up and causes the pH to fall to around 5.4– 5.7 (the ultimate pH)."
Oh, and this can also have an affect on how the meat tastes as well.
The site explains if the animal is 'stressed' up until when it is killed, 'they use up energy through an adrenaline response'.
"This means that once slaughtered, there is not as much energy available and the pH does not fall as much, typically remaining higher than 5.7," it continues. "This also has an impact on the meat quality, causing a term referred to as DFD (dark, firm, dry) or DCB (dark cutting beef)."
Well, you learn something new - whether you want to or not - everyday. Sorry, meat lovers.
