It’s the video that gives fresh meaning to the term fresh meat – and it’s turning a lot of people off eating it.
Earlier this year the Twitter account, Weird and Terrifying, posted a clip of a slab of meat pulsating, with the flesh appearing to bubble with life.
The video previously went viral on Facebook in 2020. In the last seven months it has clocked up almost 800,000 views on Twitter.
It shows what happened when butchers add salt to fresh meat. The trick draws water from its surface, while also preserving the product.
According to Scientific America, for this action to occur, the muscle had to be very fresh, so that its neurons are in tact and ready to fire.
Salt – or sodium chloride – is chock full of sodium ions and by putting this on fresh meat, the still-working neurons begin to fire.
In the video, an anonymous butcher holds the meat up to the camera, giving viewers a close-up view of the spasms.
In 2015, a similar video of a slab of meat pulsating as it hung from a hook in a market in the Philippines went viral.
Lv Suwen, an expert at the local animal health department said at the time: “You can rest assured, this piece of meat is very fresh and is from a freshly slaughtered animal.
“The central nervous system is dead but the nerve-endings in the muscles are still firing resulting in the jumping, because the nerves are not yet dead. This will stop after a short time.”
In response to Jackson’s video being shared on Twitter, one user wrote: ‘I could have done without this knowledge…’
But as Reddit user Jackson, from the US, pointed out, it has a pretty unpleasant side effect.
One commenter added: “I could’ve gone my whole life without seeing this shit but naaaahh ofc Twitter.”
Another added: “Well, this picture could make me give up eating meat.”
A third wrote: “Planning a vegetarian diet from now on.”
The video has also been shared on TikTok where it is having the same impact on people. One viewer claimed they were now “going vegan” while another added: “My skin is crawling… so unsettling.”
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