Since it is not a mainstream food in the US, the USDA has not issued a mandatory inspection process but has provided a voluntary set of rules for rabbit meat sold in stores. Under these rules it can be graded as either A, B, or C and is safe to prepare just as you would a chicken as long as the inside temperature reaches 160 degrees F during cooking. Common sense handling like refrigerating leftovers quickly and washing hands after touching raw carcasses eliminate any risk of contamination. Great info is available at the USDA's website (http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/Rabbit_from_Farm_to_Table/index.asp).The health benefits of rabbit meat far surpass those of other foods like chicken and pork. A blog named The Rabbit Wrangler (http://rabbitwrangler.wordpress.com/health-benefits/) has assembled a panel of health information citing the USDA. Rabbit meat has higher protein than other foods while containing substantially less calories. It has 8g of fat, 82mg of cholesterol, 47mg of sodium, and 29g of protein in a 3.5 ounce serving. The same serving size also offers greater than 10% Daily Value of the following vitamins and minerals: riboflavin, niacin, b6, b12, iron, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and selenium. The b12 content is a whopping 138%. Very few foods available offer such a wide variety of nutrients and taste so good.
Hope this encourages someone to take the plunge and start their rabbit herd!
Great post about how healthy rabbit meat truly is. I think if more poeple realized how healthy it is and how wonderful it tastes, they could get the picture of eating bunnies out of their heads. Sure they're cute, but so are cows IMO.
ReplyDeleteI hope more people take a look at raising meat rabbits themselves. With all the problems we have popping up in the food supply these days, there's no better time to get back to your roots and a more sustainable lifestyle.