Texas supermarket allegedly sells beef penis mislabeled as 'human food'

A civil lawsuit has been filed claiming that a Texas grocery store improperly labeled and sold beef penis as human food. As reported by KXAN News, the Texas Attorney General’s Office filed the suit against Austin's MT Supermarket and their employee. The lawsuit alleges that the supermarket manager and another worker repackaged beef penis, or pizzle, “labeled inedible beef, not intended for use as human food,” into consumer size packages and mislabeled them as human food. The suit also said the packages indicated that they were inspected and from a registered source. The defendants could face $5,000 in fines if the claims are found to be true.

Pizzle is an old English word for animal penis, typically that of a bull. It is most common to find pizzle in the U.S. in bully sticks or pizzle sticks, which are chewable dog treats. The station notes that some foreign cultures believe beef pizzle is an aphrodisiac and use it in soups and drinks. According to The Telegraph, Chinese Olympians in 2008 used red deer pizzle to boost their stamina and aid their performance.

Video and more info: KXAN, The Telegraph