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6 fun facts about jerky

Posted by / April 12, 2011

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Jerky. A staple of road trips and gas stations, this chewy meat product has delighted tastebuds around the world, but how much do you really know about the tasty snack?

Dig in to six fun facts:

  1. The word “jerky” comes from the Quechua term charqui, meaning “to burn (meat).”
  2. Types of meat “jerkied” include: bovine, pork, goat, mutton or lamb, deer, elk, caribou, kudu, springbok, kangaroo, bison, moose, turkey, ostrich, salmon, alligator, tuna, emu and horse.
  3. Most fat must be removed from the meat before the jerky process can begin because fat won’t dry and can become rancid.
  4. Many European Union countries currently prohibit the importing of meat products like jerky, requiring extensive customs documentation and inspections.
  5. In Ethiopia jerky is known as qwant’a.
  6. Astronauts have packed jerky for space flights since 1996, citing the snack’s high nutrition level and light weight.

Learn even more tasty facts about jerky at Answers.com.

We’ve got the Answers.

Photo credit: Fotolia

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