Why I will never buy supermarket filet américain again for the rest of my life
Filet américain may well be one of the most popular sandwich spreads in the Netherlands. Delicious on a freshly baked bread roll with a glass of orange juice on the side. Still, I would rather leave that tub of bright orange stuff on the supermarket shelf.
Raw meat and fish are still not always 100 percent safe to eat. It is better to check sashimi first before you press it between your chopsticks, and you also need to be careful with raw meat, such as chicken. That is why freezing filet amercian before eating it is a very good idea.
Parasites and worms
Filet amercian is raw meat. And raw meat spoils more quickly. This means you run a greater risk of getting sick from it. Parasites can also be present in the tub. And those parasites can give you toxoplasmosis. Not everyone gets equally sick from this parasite, by the way; it depends on your age and how strong your immune system is. But in addition to this parasite, you can also get tapeworms from filet américain. Eggs then develop into a worm in the intestines, which can grow up to two metres long. Disgusting—and unfortunately, this happens more often than you think.
E numbers and preservatives
Okay, I know that not everyone gets sick from eating filet américain. But besides the risk of illness, a tub of ground beef in that bright orange colour from the supermarket is not exactly healthy either. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre advises against eating it because it often contains too much salt, sugar and/or saturated fat. And when you read the label, you can see that it is packed with E numbers, preservatives and artificial flavours.
Tip: make your own filet américain!
So my advice is: make it yourself. Whether you go for Dutch filet américain or Belgian filet américain; I guarantee you that this is a hundred thousand times tastier than the supermarket version. Besides, when you make it yourself, at least you know what goes into it. Freeze the homemade filet américain for two days before eating it, and the chance of getting sick from it is minimal.
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