The Truth About Citric Acid in Meat Sticks

(And Why We Chose to Leave It Out)

Most people don’t spend much time reading the ingredient list on a meat stick. If it’s high in protein and tastes good, that’s usually enough. It’s convenient. It’s easy. You toss it in a gym bag, a backpack, the car console, and move on with your day.

But when we started building BERSKI, we had to slow down and really look at what goes into the average meat snack. And one ingredient kept showing up everywhere: citric acid.

At first, it didn’t seem like a big deal. It sounds natural. It makes you think of citrus fruits. Nothing alarming there. So why question it?

Because once we looked closer, we realized it plays a much bigger role in modern meat sticks than most people realize.

Most citric acid used in packaged foods today isn’t squeezed from lemons. It’s produced through industrial fermentation, often from corn-derived sugars. In meat sticks, it serves a few clear purposes. It lowers the pH to help preserve the product. It extends shelf life. And it creates that sharp, tangy bite that many people now associate with what a meat stick is supposed to taste like.

That tang is familiar. Almost expected.

But here’s what gave us pause: that flavor isn’t coming from the beef. It’s coming from the acid.

Somewhere along the way, that sour edge became standard. So standard that we all just accepted it as part of the experience. But when you think about traditional cured meats, the kind made slowly and intentionally, they’re not defined by acidity. They’re savory. Rich. Salty. Deeply meaty.

So we started experimenting.

When we removed citric acid from our batches, the difference was noticeable. The beef flavor came forward. The salt tasted cleaner. The spices felt more balanced. There wasn’t that metallic or sour finish hanging around. It wasn’t louder, it was just more straightforward. More honest.

Now, this isn’t about fear. Citric acid is widely used and considered safe. For large manufacturers, it makes production easier and more consistent. It speeds things up. It helps products last longer on shelves. From a scale standpoint, it makes sense.

But we weren’t trying to build the fastest shortcut.

We were trying to build a better meat stick.

If we’re using 100% grass-fed, grass-finished beef… if we’re including liver and heart because we believe in whole-animal nutrition… then every ingredient needs a clear reason to be there. Not just because “that’s how it’s done.”

When we asked ourselves directly - do we actually need citric acid? - the answer was no.

Without it, our sticks aren’t engineered to hit you with a sharp punch of flavor. They’re steady. Savory. Clean. They taste like beef instead of an acid-adjusted snack. Some people notice immediately. Others just say, “This tastes different.” And usually, they mean that in a good way.

Zooming out, this reflects something bigger for us.

A lot of modern snacks are designed around shelf life first. Then margin. Then scalability. Flavor integrity and nutrient density can end up lower on the priority list. We chose to flip that. We start with sourcing. We focus on nutrient density. We keep ingredients simple. Then we figure out how to make it convenient.

It’s not about perfection. It’s not about demonizing ingredients. It’s about intention.

Next time you grab a meat stick, flip it over and read the label. Not to panic. Not to judge. Just to understand. What’s in it? Why is it there? Does it actually need to be there?

For us, citric acid wasn’t essential.

So we left it out.

Less artificial tang. More real beef. More intention behind every ingredient.

Sometimes making something better isn’t about adding more.

Sometimes it’s about knowing what to leave out.