Revealed: What the Beef Industry Pumps into Your Dinner

[Dr Hobbitstein]

5. Styrofoam means nothing...

Please don't spread disinformation.
I worked as a butcher for nearly 10 years (in a grocery store). Every cut of beef came from a much larger primal cut that we personally carved and sliced, then went to a styrofoam tray (with a "diaper" underneath the cut to absorb excess blood) and was wrapped and labeled for sale. The Publix that I frequent does the same thing (large window into their cold room where you can physically see them cut the meat). The cuts that MAY be "needled" or "tenderized" are cuts that come in pre-cut to grocers like WalMart and Aldi's. Easy to spot (and avoid), as they are in prepacked plastic trays with fancy labels (ie, not store printed and weighed labels). If the store is fresh cutting the beef from primal cuts, then they are most likely not tenderizing in this method (you could always ask your butcher, as they would know how they process the beef).
Restaurants, on the other hand, get their cuts vaccuum-packed, individually wrapped, and god knows what was done to them at the processing plant.

The lesson here: styro-packed, hand-wrapped packages are all processed in store from primal cuts. Have a question? Ask your butcher.