When you open up a fresh package of meat from the grocery store butcher section, you probably don't think twice about that little pad that sits beneath it in the packaging. Unless, of course, you accidentally toss it into your skillet — which is something I've done once or twice before. It's easy to assume that meat diaper is there to soak up any remaining blood from whichever meat you've chosen to cook dinner with that day, but if you inspect it more closely, you'll probably have noticed that it's never stained a bright red.

Pink, perhaps, but not quite like the shade of blood. (The juice is not, in fact, blood but myoglobin, a protein.) So, what is that absorbent pad beneath your store-bought meat actually for? It turns out it's not just to draw any soggy drippings away from your meat, but also to keep you safe from some nasty microorganisms that could potentially ruin your day.

After all, one of the things you want to do in the kitchen, aside from making a delicious dinner, is avoid getting everyone in your household sick. What that absorbent pad is really for Those pads can absorb a whole lot of the liquid that seeps from your meat, which is where bacteria can hang out and proliferate. Bacteria's presence in food is a natural occurrence, but the liquid from your meat can easily splash on food preparation surfaces without you noticing.

That's where the risk of cross-contamination comes in, so it's best to control the fluid before it becomes a problem. Also, the term "mea.