Reality Bites: Inedible Bull Penis Yields $5,000 Lawsuit For Texas Supermarket That Sold Organ To Customers
When we purchase any foods at the supermarket, we like to believe they have our best interest and sell us what is on the label. A Texas supermarket tried pulling a bull over customers’ eyes selling bull penis as human food. Although this may be part of Texans’ regular diet, MT Supermarket in North Lamar, the store manager, and some employees now face a $5,000 lawsuit after a civil suit was filed by the office of the Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott claiming they sold "non-inspected, adulterated and misbranded beef pizzle as human food,” KXAN reported.
“They allegedly added wording to the re-labeled product stating the meat was inspected and from a registered source,” according to the Austin Business Journal. The employees took bull penis, commonly known as “pizzle” from boxes labeled “inedible beef, not intended for human food,” and then repackaged it for consumer consumption. MT Supermarket shoppers did not hesitate to buy the inedible bull penis, since the relabeled packages showed the meat was inspected and from a registered source, leading customers to trust what they put in their mouths. The Austin Business Journal made several phone inquiries but could not reach the store manager for comment.
In the U.S., pizzle is commonly used to make specialty glues and chew toys for dogs. However, people like Chichi Wang have dabbled their taste buds with some cooked pizzle, describing its taste. “When I tried to eat the pan-fried pizzle, the texture was so tough as to be inedible; the more I chewed, the more the pizzle resisted my molars until finally, I gave up and spit it out. A long simmering, then, seemed the only option,” Wang wrote on Serious Eats. After trying endless ways to cook the bull penis, Wang cannot determine once and for all if pizzle is tasty to eat.
In foreign cultures, bull penis is consumed in its dried and ground form, used in soups and drinks. Soups such as Jamaica’s cow cod — another name for penis soup — is considered to be an aphrodisiac. This delicacy is also seen in Asian culture, particularly Chinese athletes, who consumed deer pizzle during the 2008 Beijing Olympics to boost stamina and their performance, The Telegraph reported. Pizzle is low in cholesterol, high in protein, hormones, vitamins, and minerals such as calcium and magnesium.
While pizzle may not be the meat of choice for most of us, one thing is clear: Don’t mess with the bull. You’ll get the horns.