The internet is full of fabulous facts about everything from current events to the history basket weaving. Because of this, as we research for our daily content on food trucks, food carts and street food, we stumble upon some items of knowledge that we just did not know.

We have decided when these fun facts pop up, that we would share them with our readers in our section titled “Did You Know?”

For today’s Did You Know we will look at Jerky fun facts.

Jerky Fun Facts: Jerky is lean meat that has been trimmed of fat, cut into strips, and then dried to prevent spoilage.

• The origin of the word Jerky is from Native American “Charqui” which means “to burn meat”.
• NASA provided Space shuttle crews this lightweight high protein treat in the mid nineties.
• Although beef is the most common type of jerky, one can also find jerky from wild game such as venison, elk, caribou, moose and even kangaroo meat.
• Nutritionally, jerky is low in fat and high in protein. The major issue is the huge amount of sodium. A 1 oz serving contains up to 15 grams of protein, but 600mg of sodium.
• June 12th is National Jerky Day.
• Meat snacks rank as the fourth highest-grossing sector of salty snacks, outselling pretzels and popcorn.
• Many European Union countries currently prohibit the importing of meat products like jerky, requiring extensive customs documentation and inspections.

Jerky Fun Facts We May Have Missed

If so, please feel free to let us know about the jerky fun facts we missed. We always love to add to these lists. If we can verify that the facts is just that, a fact, we will give the reader credit in the article.

Reference: Fun Facts about Jerky

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