Would You Buy This Ungraded Meat From the Back of a Truck?

Would you purchase discounted, ungraded meat from the back of a box truck?

Box trucks have recently been popping up near Orlando, Fla., in gas station parking lots, outside of Tractor Supply and auto parts stores. Banners adorn the trucks, touting insane deals on beef, like 20 ribeye steaks for only $39.

WFTV 9, a local news station in Orlando, decided to investigate what is actually being sold out of the backs of these trucks.

The results are pretty shocking.

The company with the food trucks, Kenston Farms, is “F” rated by the Better Business Bureau, that should be red flag No. 1 for most people.

Likely confusing some is the fact that the company has 4.6 out of 5 stars on Google reviews.

WFTV sent a reporter to one of the trucks to buy some of the meat and speak with some people who had just made purchases. They were shocked to find out that some people claimed they received a discount or special deal to leave a Google review.

The reporter purchased some of the ungraded meat, which was advertised as 20 ribeye steaks for $39.99. The company indeed charges $39.99 as advertised, but they add an unadvertised 11 percent fee to the backend of that.

And the ingredients? Not just “beef.”

You’re consuming some mix of: “Beef, water, rice starch, plum juice concentrate, sodium phosphates, trehalose, garlic powder, rosemary extract and bromelain.”

WFTV took steaks to Dr. Kevin Murphy from University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management to further investigate.

When Dr. Murphy cut into one of the steaks, it had a funny red color to it, which is probably from the plum juice that’s added.

Then, Dr. Murphy pointed out the obvious, that the meat is not USDA inspected, which each piece of meat sold in America should be. So, it’s truly a mystery meat.

“Mystery meat” is likely still meat, but it usually means that it comes from a dairy cow that no longer produces dairy, not a cow that was bred for beef.

Kenston farms’ BBB rating is so low due to the fact that they don’t respond to consumer complaints.

WFTV tried to reach out to the meat company via social media, email and phone, and never heard back.

Why Are Parking Lot Meat Sales Risky?

Other than being disappointed in the taste and quality of your new box of meat, most of these parking lot operations are not straightforward about where their meat comes from.

There’s no way to know how the meat was processed, stored or transported.

And, it’s hard to get a refund if you’re not satisfied — if you go back the next day to make a return, the truck will be gone, onto the next city to sell its mystery meats.