Ask Andy: "Street meat" - Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee

By Andy Wise - bio | email

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - The Better Business Bureau said meat is being sold door to door, and people are actually buying it.

"Street meat" took on a new meaning when a door-to-door meat salesman showed up in Henry Reidy's neighborhood.

"As soon as we tried to cut into a piece of it, we were like we have totally been shystered," Reidy said.

Reidy actually bought the meat and the man's sales pitch.

"He goes, 'I usually sell it to restaurants and I have got some extra meat and I don't want to talk it all the way back with me'," Reidy said.

Reidy said when he tried to cook the meat, he discovered it was bad.  By then it was too late.

He tried to track the meat salesman, who was already long gone.

"You say I am never going to get suckered in like that and this guy suckers you," Reidy said.  "Why didn't I see this coming a mile away?"

Tom Gallagher of the BBB said door-to-door meat salesman are all over right now.  They pop up in the summertime.

"If they are going to be in the neighborhood today, they will be in the neighborhood tomorrow," Gallagher said.

Butchers got a big laugh out of the idea of door-to-door meat salesman.  They said to buy your meat from a reputable grocer or meat market.

Look for the USDA seal, a fresh expiration date and for meats marked either "prime" or "choice."  Avoid meats marked "select."

Butchers also suggested you go to a place where you can talk to someone who can tell you everything you want to know about the piece of meat, including what it is, where it came from and how it has been treated.

The BBB also advised that you simply do not accept any door-to-door solicitation.

Copyright 2010 WMC-TV. All rights reserved.