I am not anti-Walmart. I buy their clothing, household goods, computer items, vitamins, and groceries. They are high quality, the price is always right, it's one-stop shopping, and you can easily return items that you don’t like.

However, a year or so ago I noticed the label on their beef cuts. In tiny print, it says "enhanced with 15% solution".

I asked the meat department head what the label meant. I was especially concerned what "solution" was. After all, embalming fluid is a "solution"!

She'd never noticed it before and was as mystified as I. She finally shrugged and said they'd just started buying meat from another supplier.

I bought a package of seemingly nice cuts of steak. After grilling one, I took one bite and could eat no more. It tasted rubbery and artificial - like Soylent Green must taste!

The store said I could return the uncooked remainder for a full refund. On the way there, I met a coworker. He said he liked Walmart meat even with solution injected. He's rather destitute, so I just gave the package to him.

My friend happily took the package home.

A few days later, my friend brought some home-made stew to work. He offered me some. Once I took a bite, I knew he’d used my rejected steak for it.

Feh! It tasted horrible!

I was polite to my co-worker, but I threw out the stew as soon as he left the room! What a waste of good water, spices and vegetables!

Since then, I have noticed that WM chicken is a bit rubbery. The breasts are very large for a normal chicken, indicating at least some weird breeding. The ground round seems OK. Neither it nor the chicken is marked as “enhanced with solution.” So, I continued to buy both chicken and ground beef at WM.

But lately, I read online that the USDA doesn't require chicken nor ground beef to be marked if it is "enhanced." I guess it’s another case of a federal watchdog agency helping to con us, instead of protecting us.

So now, I’ll buy all my meat at a local store that cuts its own meats. Their butcher assured me there’s no coloring nor “solution” in their products, not even their salmon.

In my little town it’s a hassle commuting to more than one grocery store, but my health and peace of mind are worth it!

What do you think?