What makes a meat pie

Fed up with misconceptions about their product, manufacturers have successfully changed the definition of a meat pie.

In the past, pies needed to contain at least 25 per cent meat, but meat could refer to any animal parts.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has now redefined a meat pie as containing at least "25 per cent meat flesh", which excludes offcuts and offal, but includes muscle, skin and fat.

But shoppers in Townsville in north Queensland still have doubts about what is under the crust.

"My mother used to work in a meat pie factory and she used to say that all the meat that got dropped on the floor, they used to get sent containers and that would all get processed and put in the pies," one person said.

"That's leftover meat from meatworks, they scrape it off the ground and they chuck it in this big grinder," another person said.

"It has to be Australian meat, it depends on what brand I guess you buy," a shopper said.

"I would have thought it would be lean cuts, it depends on the price of them too, you see, you can tell by the taste.

"You get gristle and stuff - I've eaten some pretty dodgy ones." "I don't have any idea either, I just eat it," another person said. "If it tastes good, it's good for me." "Well hopefully, meat, onion, beef, gravy - all the odd stuff out of the cow - I've no idea, I shudder to think," another shopper said.