I had a cheeseburger for lunch yesterday at a small restaurant in Bainbridge, Ohio. They grilled the bun perfectly, the meat was delicious and appeared to be fresh ground. The onion and mayo were just as I expected. It was a delicious treat and I didn’t give pink slime a thought until I was eating the ground meat atop a chili relleno this evening. Somehow I’m not concerned about the safety of eating hamburger with this stuff in it. I don’t eat that much ground beef so I doubt it’s going to kill me. I’m just bothered by knowing the food industry has been hiding the existence of this cost cutting filler in 70% of our ground beef for so long. I simply want people to know the truth about what they are getting for their money. Why can’t we have effective and clearly stated truth in labeling in America?
I watched the process last week when several beef state governors toured one of the facilities. I don’t claim to know what risk are associated with ammonia gas but one consolation is the reduced chance of ingesting e. coli and other bacteria. But, like I said in my piece, I don’t care much what is put in our food as long as people are told what they are paying money for. For years I read portions of Upton Sinclair’s Jungle to my classes and here we are, 100 years later, and the meat packers are still not telling people how sausage is made!
well pink slime is technically meat “..lean finely textured beef (LFTB) or boneless lean beef trimmings (BLBT)..”. however, it has been treated with ammonia gas and citric acid to kill any threat of E. coli & salmonella. the same process is used for those processed chicken nuggets. ever seen the pink slime those things are made out of? it’s illegal is Canada and the UK.