Tuesday, March 20, 2012
The USDA has made the decision to offer public schools an alternative to buying beef that’s made with “pink slime,” the chemically-treated beef additive that has been in national headlines recently. Fast food giants like McDonalds, Taco Bell and Burger King stopped using it in their beef after it received national attention a year ago, and many people were outraged to find out that it was still being served in schools.
If you haven’t seen any of the news stories about it, “Pink slime” is a ground beef additive made from the muscle and connective tissue of the cow. According to The Washington Post, the process involves taking USDA-approved beef trimmings, separating the fat and meat with centrifuges, then squeezing the lean beef through a tube the size of a pencil, during which time it is exposed to ammonia gas. The combination of the gas with water in the meat results in a reaction that increases the pH (lowering acidity) and killing any pathogens such as E. coli. The industry calls this “lean finely textured beef.” It is used to salvage more animal protein from the carcass, resulting in larger weights and volumes added to the ground beef; and thus more money for the meat packing companies. However, the use of pink slime has recently come under fire for safety concerns with ammonium hydroxide; the public is also concerned that they are getting up to 15 percent of processed “filler” in the meat they’re buying.
The initial public outcry stemmed from the discovery of the trimmings containing pathogens; namely E Coli and Salmonella. To combat this, meat producers use ammonium hydroxide, a gas that kills the pathogens and additional bacteria that are likely present in the meat. But experts are claiming that eliminating the pathogen problem with chemicals only creates another; the new safety concerns with the use of ammonium hydroxide in meat processing. However the American Meat Institute insists that the gas used in pink slime is not your average, household cleaning ammonia. They claim it is a different compound that has been tested extensively for safety and has a long history of success.
The Huffington Post stated that “advocates for wholesome food have denounced the process as a potentially unsafe and unappetizing example of industrialized food production.” Parents across the country are concerned that a product that was forgone by even McDonalds and Burger King are still being served in school lunchrooms. The way it has been portrayed in the media has caused many to deem it simply “disgusting.” The images shown online and the nickname “pink slime” aren’t helping the matter either.
Studies have found that as much as 70 percent of the ground beef we are buying in the supermarkets includes pink slime, and that no more than 15 percent of the meat can be comprised of it. What’s more, because the USDA does not require companies to list it on the ingredients label, it is impossible to know if the meat you’re buying contains it.
Although the USDA has given schools the choice on whether or not to offer it, they are standing by the safety of the product. On March 15, they released a statement, saying that the product is "safe, nutritious and affordable" but that they would offer an alternative for schools if they chose not to use it. In 2009, The New York Times wrote an expose on the use of the product, revealing that federal testing between 2005 and 2009 found that ground beef containing “boneless lean beef trimmings” was four times more likely to contain salmonella than regular ground meat.
The validity of these concerns is still up in the air, as meat producing companies insist that the public is focusing on the aesthetics of the product and not looking at the facts. Beef Product Inc., for example, insists that its product is 100 percent lean beef, and is approved by a series of industry experts, while the National Meat Association refuted the claims that the product is made from scraps meant for pet food. They also said that ammonium hydroxide is used in baked goods, puddings and other processed foods, and has been for several years with no public attention or concern over its safety. With so much national attention, it’s easy to see how people can take an image that they see online, or a claim made in a network television show and believe it without first looking into the facts and details of this product.
As a nation that is ever encouraging its citizens to forgo processed foods for more natural alternatives, it’s understandable that parents would not want this “pink slime” in the lunches at their children’s school. Unfortunately, the schools that have banned the product may not have a choice anyway; many schools are having a difficult time finding processors that offer certified ammonium-free meat, so it could continue to be used until more meat processing plants offer beef without it. As a consumer, the only way to guarantee that your meat doesn’t have “lean finely textured beef” is to grind your beef yourself, or ask your local butcher to grind it for you.
A petition stated on Change.org urging the USDA to ban the use of pink slime in public schools has already received 239,000 signatures. As the safety and health of this product is debated nationally, it is important to remember to get the facts about these claims before making a decision that could affect your family.
Well, what do you think parents? How do you feel about the pink slime debate? OMG or NBD?
