What makes a beef bar or stick clean?

A short ingredient list that leads with beef, then a little salt and some spices. A clean snack means grass-fed and grass-finished beef, slow or air dried, with no added nitrites, sugar, seed oils or flavour enhancers. If beef is the first ingredient and the rest of the list is short and readable, you have found one.

Is grass-fed beef actually better?

For the fat profile, yes. A 2010 review in the Nutrition Journal found grass-fed beef has about two to four times more omega-3 fatty acids than grain-fed, plus more antioxidant vitamins. The word to check is grass-finished, since some cattle are grass-fed then grain-finished. It is still red meat, so treat it as a better version of the same food, not a health cure.

Are the nitrites in beef snacks a problem?

They are the main reason to read the label. In 2015 the WHO's cancer agency classified processed meat, meaning meat preserved by curing and similar methods, as a Group 1 carcinogen, and it linked each 50 gram daily portion to about an 18 percent higher colorectal cancer risk. That concern sits with the curing agents and the processing, so a snack kept to beef, salt and spices, without added nitrites, steps around it.

How much protein is in a beef bar?

It depends on the bar and how far it has been dried, since drying concentrates the protein. A whole-cut beef bar is high in protein and low in carbohydrate, which is what makes it such a handy portable snack. Read the protein figure and the sugar figure together, because a sweet jerky can carry more sugar than you would expect.

What is the difference between a beef bar, a stick and biltong?

A beef bar is usually a whole cut, slow dried, so it stays dense and meaty. A stick is often ground and formed, which can mean more binders, so the label matters more. Biltong is air dried and thinly sliced, not cooked or smoked. Jerky is marinated and dried, and is where added sugar most often shows up. Our biltong versus jerky guide covers that pair in detail.

Is beef jerky a processed meat?

Often, yes, if it has been cured or preserved with nitrites, which is what the 2015 WHO classification refers to. A minimally processed dried beef with no added nitrites is cleaner. Either way it is still dried meat, so treat any beef snack as something to enjoy in moderation rather than a health food. The shorter the ingredient list, the better.

Can I eat a beef bar every day?

For many people, as a portable protein snack, that is fine. Just keep an eye on sodium, since dried beef is high in salt and that matters if you are watching your blood pressure. Enjoy it as part of a varied diet rather than as your main protein. If you have a medical condition, check with your healthcare provider.

Beef Bars and Sticks: What to Look For in a Clean Beef Snack

Turn a beef stick over at the checkout and the ingredient list can read like a lolly wrapper. Sugar, a sweetener, soy protein, a curing salt and a flavour enhancer, with the beef sitting somewhere in the middle of the queue. That is a strange list for a snack that is supposed to be dried meat. A beef bar or stick should be simple portable protein you can throw in a bag and trust, and the ingredient panel is where that promise holds or falls apart. Here is what a clean one reads like, and what the cheaper ones quietly pack in.

The short answer

What a clean beef snack looks like

Grass-fed and grass-finished: why it matters

Reading the label: nitrites, sugar and seed oils

Bar, stick or biltong: what the formats mean

Who this is not for

Frequently asked questions

Disclaimer

The information on this page is written to help you make informed decisions about your health and nutrition. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Health decisions should always involve a conversation with your healthcare provider, especially before starting a new supplement or making changes to your routine.

Chief Nutrition supplements are intended to support everyday health and wellbeing. They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.