Boerewors, braai wors, wors. It’s all just sausage, right? That’s what we thought. Turns out it’s not that simple. Terence Pillay investigated what’s really in that wors you’re about to throw on the braai.
South Africans have been eating boerewors for more than 150 years. Back then, it was just a simple sausage prepared by travelling farmers. It was made from minced beef and a smattering of spek (pork or beef fat) filled into casings (the intestines of sheep or pigs) and it was a staple on stopovers.
These days the humble meat treat has been elevated to the extent that it has to be legislated – if it doesn’t say boerewors on the label, it’s not the real deal. While that’s all well and good, what’s the point if there’s no policing for compliance? This was a huge bugbear for Rudi van der Westhuizen of the South African Meat Industry Company (a quality assurance company created by the Red Meat Industry of South Africa) last year when donkey meat was found in food that was meant to have been legislated.
“Government doesn’t have the budget to enforce,” Rudi says. “We have fantastic regulations and protection, but that’s just on paper.” As consumers, all we can do is read the label. And if the legislation is anything to go by, it seems you get what you pay for.
So, what do the labels on your meat mean?
Boerewors
According to the Department of Health’s regulations, if a label says boerewors it must contain 90 percent bovine, porcine, and caprine species, of which no more than 30 percent should be fat. It may contain no mechanically recovered meat or offal, except where it’s used as the casing.
Braai wors
There are no specific criteria for the humble braai wors, so it typically contains considerably less meat and can contain offal. It may be safer to buy sausage labelled as “species sausage” where you’re guaranteed it will contain 75 percent meat, no offal and no mechanically recovered meat.
Wors
Wors doesn’t have to have any meat at all and can contain mechanically recovered meat – if you must know, this refers to the pulped material consisting predominantly of muscular tissue, collagen, marrow and fat recovered by a process where bone and meat are separated. Now you know what foes into that suspiciously cheap sausage you thought was a bargain.
This article first appeared in the September issue of Getaway Magazine.
