What Is The Red Ring Around Bologna And Can You Eat It?

When it comes to lunch meat, bologna has somewhat of an unfair reputation. The deli meat has ample nostalgic appeal, thanks to its role as a childhood lunchbox staple, and bologna is highly affordable since it's commonly made from the scraps of meats like beef, pork, and poultry. Also, consider that bologna is unexpectedly healthier than salami, faring slightly better where nutrition is concerned. It's even free of cholesterol. 

Any bona fide bologna aficionado has likely noticed that slices sometimes come with a curious red ring around the perimeter. You may have even wondered whether you were supposed to eat it. Maybe, in your bologna-induced euphoria, you just forged ahead and ate the ring. For future reference, that red ring is a fibrous casing used in the manufacture of bologna and other cured meats, and it should be removed and discarded before eating. 

Cured meats can come with three different casings. Along with fibrous varieties, some meats use natural casings, which are made from the intestines of different animals and are edible. There are also collagen casings, which typically come from the hides of animals. Collagen casings are also edible, but they may not be as palatable as natural ones. You can usually identify fibrous casings by their deep, red color, but keep in mind that they can also be clear.

Fibrous casings are made with cellulose (a type of organic fiber found in plants) and paper coated with glycerine. While it's perfectly acceptable to consume cellulose when eating fruits and vegetables, eating bologna casings introduces a large amount of the fiber to your digestive system, which can then cause stomach bloating, constipation, and diarrhea. While we've established that eating the red ring around bologna is not advisable, some brave souls have actually eaten it and lived to tell the tale. 

According to a post on Reddit, a person regularly ate the red ring as a child and would routinely experience stomach upset afterwards. Many years later, in adulthood, they finally realized that the casing wasn't intended to be eaten, thanks to the help of a knowledgeable friend (although they mistakenly claimed that the red ring was made of plastic). According to the Redditor, "I removed it and was absolutely amazed at how much better it tasted ... I can actually eat bologna without the stomach aches that accompany it." Along with this easy way to improve your sandwich experience, you can also use our methods for upgrading a bologna sandwich, which include using garlic bread and adding the deli meat to a breakfast sandwich.