Man Buys a $26 Pack of Ribeyes at Price Chopper. Then He Spots Something Unusual in the Meat: ‘Yellowish Fat IS HORSE MEAT’
Just ribeyes—or so the label says
A cheap pack of steak can look like a great deal until something about the meat makes you look twice. And with ribeyes, shoppers may already be a little suspicious when the price seems almost too good to be true.
Sometimes, though, the price isn’t what raises questions. Grocery store meat can look unfamiliar enough to leave shoppers wondering what exactly is inside the package.
That’s what happened when TikTok creator Michael (@bakeityoself) came across a $26 pack of ribeyes at Price Chopper. Something about the meat looked unusual to him, and once he shared it online, viewers had very different ideas about what he was actually looking at.
But is it really horse meat?
In a TikTok with 2.8 million views, Michael shows a package labeled “Beef Ribeye Steak Family Pack” at Price Chopper. The steaks are priced at $26.98, or $21.58 with a rewards card. Another package shown in the video is priced at $21.00, or $13.00 with a rewards card. But it wasn’t the price that had him questioning what he was looking at.
The price wasn’t what caught his attention. Michael zooms in on the steaks, which have dark-colored meat along with visible sections of fat and marbling. Text over the video asks, “Is this?” alongside a horse emoji, while another message reads, “This meat looks different than usual.”
Michael doesn’t provide evidence that the steaks are horse meat, and there is no indication in the video that the package is labeled as anything other than beef. Still, the appearance was enough to leave viewers divided over exactly what they were looking at.
“Dark red meat with yellowish fat IS HORSE MEAT,” one commenter claimed. Another agreed that horse meat can be distinguished by its color, writing, “Horse meat is dark. Like. Very very dark red.”
Others immediately pushed back. “Google what raw horse meat looks like. It’s not NEARLY that fatty,” one person wrote. Another pointed to the visible fat as a reason to doubt the theory, saying, “Horses will not have that kinda marbling lol.”
One commenter who identified themselves as a butcher offered a different explanation, claiming Argentinian beef arriving at some grocery stores can consist of different beef cuts and trim. “It’s a mixture of Chuck rolls inside rounds and usually bottom around,” they wrote, adding, “it’s not f****** horse meat it’s not great meat but it’s not horse meat.”
Another person who identified themselves as a meat cutter suggested the darker appearance could be related to stress in the cattle before slaughter. “The darker cut shows that the cattle was stressed when it was slaughtered and that there is less glycogen in the muscle,” they wrote. “The meat is fine but may have a slight iron taste as the muscle held onto some blood because they were contracted during slaughter.”
There is no confirmation that Michael’s Price Chopper ribeyes contained horse meat, and Price Chopper does not appear to have publicly addressed his claims. Color and fat may give shoppers something to question, but appearance by itself cannot establish which species meat came from. Definitively determining that would require more than a viral TikTok and a very divided comment section.
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