Oh Boy Oberto Fat Free Beef Jerky

By: Tanya Taylor, PhD | Dec 7, 2005

Beef jerky is essentially chewable strips of dried meat. Drying meat is as old as time itself, since this is an excellent way to preserve meat for long periods of time. I'll be honest and say this is not really part of my regular diet, especially since I wasn't exposed to it growing up in my Jamaican culture, and also because this snack can run you $3.50 for a bag. Still, I must admit, it tastes pretty darn good. I had the 97% fat free Natural Style Teriyaki flavor beef jerky from Oh Boy Oberto. I was surprised that the strips are more sweet than salty, but I guess that's what teriyaki flavor is supposed to taste like (I'm a bit skeptical about that though).

The strips were also very flavorful - and a look at the ingredients shows why. They added natural smoke and the jerky even smells like you are eating smoked meat. After you eat some of the jerky strips, there is a spicy aftertaste lingering in your mouth (not too spicy and very pleasant I might add), and when I looked on the ingredients, I saw ginger and figured that must be the reason, since adding just the right amount of ginger can do that - make a food not taste spicy at first, but as you eat a little more, you detect it - different from chili peppers which are more up front - in your face kind of spicy.

I always thought beef jerky had a lot of calories and fat, but it turns out that's not really true. Since this is 97% fat free, there is only 1 gram of fat per serving (28 grams or 3 - 4 strips) and no saturated fat. There are 80 calories, and it's a good source of protein with 10 grams per serving. The sodium is high though, at 500 mg per serving, or 21% of recommended daily intake levels. Even though it tasted sweet, there is only 6 grams of sugar, but don't look for vitamins and minerals in this - except for a wee bit of iron.

All in all, this was tasty, but a bit too pricey for my snack budget - but do remember I am a broke college student.

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