Is Walmart Meat Good? (don’t make these mistakes)
Walmart makes shopping for many products for your family an easy, convenient, and inexpensive experience because the supercenters offer everything from clothes to laptops to steaks.
But you might be wondering: Is Walmart’s meat good? Is the discounted price on ground beef or rotisserie chicken worth it? Here’s what you need to know.
Is Walmart Meat Good?
In a 2017 survey by Consumer Reports, Walmart received the most complaints of any grocery store, with shoppers specifically citing poor meat choices. Since then, however, Walmart has worked to improve the quality and transparency of sourcing some meat products.
To learn more about why Walmart meat isn’t considered good, what meat is considered the best they offer, and where else you can get quality meat at low prices, see below!
Why isn’t Walmart meat considered good?
According to 12tomatoes.com, Walmart shoppers “reviewed their purchases of ground beef…as gristly, inedible, and even containing chunks of offal.”
A commenter on Quora.com also had a lot of complaints.
Meat manager Josh Schildroth started the comments, responding to “Does Walmart sell fresh meat?” by saying, “No, no, no, no, no. Never.”
He mentions their lack of on-site butchers and suggests that Walmart sells low quality, select grade meat with poor trim specifications and cutting angles.
He also testified that the meat was cut “a week ago” and shipped out in high-barrier bags known as master bags.
This is in stark contrast to the way really fresh meat is shipped – locally, within days (if not hours) of slaughter and then broken down by skilled on-site butchers.
On the giant message board Reddit, a user asked which foods they should avoid buying at Walmart.
The vast majority of respondents mentioned Walmart meat. “The taste is so bad, it’s definitely not worth the price difference,” said one.
Another chimed in, “OMG their steaks are so bad…disgusting.”
Another said: “I used to buy meat there and it was disgusting.”
Unfortunately, while all of these stories are anecdotal, enough people have had a bad experience with Walmart meat that it has become part of their brand identity.
Also, try googling anything about Walmart meat.
When you see all the hits about FDA food recalls involving their meat, you’re not going to get a lot of assurance about the quality.
Which includes a main 40,000 lbs. Ground beef was recalled in June 2020 due to possible E. coli contamination of the meat.
What Walmart Meats Are Considered Good?
Not all Walmart meat is considered poor quality, though.
Walmart sells some meat and meat alternatives that have received recommendations from various websites.
These include:
- Meat Alternatives – Better known as the plant-based Impossible brand, Impossible “meat” can be used wherever ground beef is.
Since Walmart has a notorious reputation for poor quality ground beef, it might be a good idea to switch it up once in a while.
The eatthis.com website says Impossible meat tastes “surprisingly like real meat” and that Walmart sells it at a discounted price.
- Frozen Chicken – The writers at Heathline.com recommend Walmart’s frozen pre-baked chicken breasts, which are healthy and delicious.
The author also cites the convenience and versatility of frozen chicken.
- Frozen Beef – Again, the Heathline.com writers agree that Walmart’s frozen lean beef, in the form of ground beef, burgers and sirloin strips, is worth buying.
- Wagyu – While Walmart’s Wagyu isn’t real Wagyu (from Japan), a Steakbuff.com writer calls it “pretty good quality.”
Has Walmart beef improved?
In 2020, Walmart opened its first meatpacking plant in the Southeast.
This is in response to calls for more transparency in its meat supply chain, among other reasons.
Located in Thomasville, Georgia (closer to Tallahassee, Florida than any other major city in Georgia), the 200,000-square-foot facility supplies approximately 500 Southern Walmart stores.
There are no cattle ranches nearby, though, because the animals are slaughtered in Kansas and sent to Georgia for finishing.
However, Walmart’s greater presence in their supply chain and their partnership with McLaren Farms is seen as a step towards “higher quality products”.
Is that new packing plant producing better Walmart beef than Walmart had a better reputation some time ago?
Only time will tell as new products start finding their way into homes and Southerners start talking.
Should You Avoid Walmart Chicken?
Mashed.com had a lot to say about Walmart’s meat division, covering the retail giant’s chicken picks in a 2020 article.
Beyond quality, a 2015 lawsuit claimed Walmart overcharged for poultry products advertised at lower prices.
Instead of taking the matter to court, Walmart eventually settled.
It appears that while Walmart claims to have the lowest prices on their products, sometimes their chicken is more expensive than the pricier grocery stores.
This fact, combined with their reputation for poor meat quality, means that buying chicken at Walmart is not the deal they would have you believe.
Another reason you might want to avoid buying their chicken involves the super convenient rotisserie chicken you’ll find in the prepared foods section.
Of the seven grocery stores that Eat This, Not That ranked for rotisserie chicken, Walmart came in last.
I personally have tons of Walmart rotisserie chicken and I have to agree. While they were tasty (especially the skin), the meat was thin.
Is it safe to buy meat from Walmart?
It’s generally safe to buy meat from Walmart, but shop proactively.
Don’t just start throwing packages into your cart; take the time to look at each package individually.
Start with the label – is it about to expire? If so, can you dig deeper or deeper and find newer products?
Look at the meat itself. Does it look slimy? Does it look overly discolored? Some graying or discoloration doesn’t necessarily indicate that the meat has spoiled – it’s just oxidized.
But if it looks green or black, put it back (or better yet, give it to the staff to stop the rotation).
Also try sniffing the product. While they seal fairly well, a really bad piece of meat will stink through the shrink wrap.
Finally, don’t ignore FDA product recalls. If you see a product for meat, please follow up and check which products are affected.
Now that you know about Walmart’s meat, you can also read our related articles on where Walmart’s meat and chicken come from, and find out if Walmart sells halal meat.
in conclusion
Walmart’s meat department has historically been disappointing, with poor cuts of beef and higher prices than you’d expect.
But the sprawling retail chain recently corrected that perception with a new beef processing plant in Georgia.
I think we’ll continue to see efforts like this from Walmart over the next few years, and perhaps with that, public perception of its meat division will improve.
