
What are they? Absorbent meat pads or absorbent meat soakers are the little package that often sits between your raw meat and your butchers tray. Jeremy Haydn-Davies, sales director, said: “Ovenable pads offer highly effective absorbency before and during cooking, so are perfect for putting under roast chickens, for example, in a tray – as the customer doesn’t need to remove the pad before cooking. Should you not remove ovenable pads before cooking? Polypropylene is a particularly useful substance because it’s hydrophobic - meaning that it repels water - and oleophilic - it attracts oils. Thermoplastic materials are synthetic resins that become plastic when they’re heated. Most oil absorbent pads are made with polypropylene, a thermoplastic polymer.

When defrosting, the pads help keep the original juices in with the meat. Additionally, absorbent meat pads help improve the shelf-life of meats. It is possible to freeze meat with this absorbent pad still in the packaging. While your steak may taste a little “off”, you won’t actually be at any greater risk for foodborne illness. In these instances you might be inclined to toss your meat, but USDA officials say that any meat affected by freezer burn is safe to eat. These packaging materials are clearly not intended to be cooked, however if this happens and the packaging materials remain unaltered (that is, do not melt or come apart) the cooked meat will not pose an imminent health hazard.Ĭan you eat meat that was open in the freezer? Sometimes meat or poultry is accidentally cooked with some of the packaging materials. Is it safe if meat was cooked with plastic wrapping left on it? According to the USDA Food Safety and Information Services, as long as the absorbent pad is not melted, torn apart, or broken open after the meat has been cooked, your food is safe to consume. In a nutshell: It’s probably no big deal. Is the absorbent pad in meat toxic to humans?

