Seven Million Pounds of “Pink Slime” Destined for National School Lunch Program

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/seven-million-tons-8220-pink-slime-8221-beef-180500764.html

By Sarah B. Weir, Yahoo! blogger | Healthy Living – 11 hours ago

McDonald's and Taco Bell have banned it, but now the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is buying 7 million pounds of beef containing ammonium hydroxide-treated ground connective tissue and meat scraps and serving it up to America's school kids. If you thought cafeteria food was gross before….

According to TheDaily.com, the term "pink slime" was coined by microbiologist Gerald Zirnstein, formerly of the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service. He first saw it being mixed into burger meat when he was touring a Beef Products Inc (BPI) facility in 2002 after an outbreak of salmonella. "Scientists in D.C. were pressured to approve this stuff with minimal safety approval," Zirnstein told The Daily.

"Pink slime," which is officially called "Lean Beef Trimmings," is banned for human consumption in the United Kingdom. It is commonly used in dog and chicken food. Celebrity chef and safe food advocate Jamie Oliver featured the substance and called for its ban on the April 12, 2011 episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, which may have influenced McDonald's to stop using beef patties containing the filler.

Reportedly, Zirnstein and his colleague Carl Custer studied the substance and classified it as a "high risk product." Custer, who worked at the Food Safety Inspection service for 35 years, says, "We looked at the product and we objected to it because it used connective tissues instead of muscle. It was simply not nutritionally equivalent [to ground beef]. My main objection was that it was not meat."

Another issue is the ammonium hydroxide, a chemical that is used to kill pathogens such as E. coli. The FDA considers it safe for human consumption but a 2009 expose by the New York Times questioned its safety and efficacy. Some food advocates are asking for meat containing "pink slime" to be labeled. It's used in about 70% of ground beef in the US. "We don't know which districts are receiving what meat, and this meat isn't labeled to show pink slime. They don't have to under federal law," Bettina Siegal, a writer and mother of two who created TheLunchTray.com told NBC. Siegel has started a petition to demand the USDA stop using the product in the National School Lunch Program.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

pink slime = meat

pizza = vegetable

We prepare and pack lunch for our daughter. She won't eat that #######.

[Ban Hammer 13,550]

pink slime = meat

pizza = vegetable

We prepare and pack lunch for our daughter. She won't eat that #######.

be ready for this:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/352402-preschoolers-homemade-lunch-replaced-with-cafeteria-nuggets/

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Nom Nom!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

be ready for this:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/352402-preschoolers-homemade-lunch-replaced-with-cafeteria-nuggets/

I read that. Not gonna happen. The lunch my daughter takes to school is far healthier (and tastier) than the garbage they serve up in school. She had the school lunches for the first week or so and then asked me if she could take her lunch from home instead. She hated the ####### they were trying to feed her there. Just hated it.

[ahmed_f 0]

pink slime = meat

pizza = vegetable

We prepare and pack lunch for our daughter. She won't eat that #######.

+1

[sara..... 371]

be ready for this:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/352402-preschoolers-homemade-lunch-replaced-with-cafeteria-nuggets/

Charles i dont know if you have ever had the misfortune to eat a lunch that they serve at school but in our area the school lunch is awful mickyD have less calories than the school lunch and has more nutrition

sara

[Darnell 8,479]

Not Meat

[Ban Hammer 13,550]

Charles i dont know if you have ever had the misfortune to eat a lunch that they serve at school but in our area the school lunch is awful mickyD have less calories than the school lunch and has more nutrition

sara

i've not eaten a school lunch in about 35 years.

[Ban Hammer 13,550]

'Pink slime' is good for America's schoolchildren, manufacturers claim

The company that sells ground beef treated with ammonia proclaims their meat mixture is good for America's schoolchildren, even though parents across the country are seriously questioning the safety of what has been dubbed "pink slime."

Beef Products Inc. (BPI) made the declaration about its "lean finely textured beef" or LFTB over the weekend to The Daily, which broke the news that the federal government plans to buy ground beef that contains 7 million pounds of the product in the coming year. After the report, "pink slime" became the most searched topic on the internet.

"Including LFTB in the national school lunch program's beef products accomplishes three important goals on behalf of 32 million kids," BPI spokesman Rich Jochum said. "It 1) improves the nutritional profile, 2) increases the safety of the products and 3) meets the budget parameters that allow the school lunch program to feed kids nationwide every day."

Extracting beef remnants from fat and trimmings, where pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella are found in markedly higher concentrations, is a cost effective way to increase overall yields -- shaving an estimated three cents off the cost of making a pound of ground beef.

Critics, though, contend South Dakota-based BPI has made millions off "pink slime" over the past decade, and that its safety and nutritional claims about the treated beef are dubious at best.

"Not only is this product a potential source of killer pathogens if the ammonia levels are not controlled properly, but that the overall protein quality of the beef hamburger is compromised by the inclusion of LFTB," former US Department of Agriculture microbiologist Gerald Zirnstein said.

Zirnstein, who worked in the agency's Food Safety and Inspection Service, coined the term "pink slime" after touring a BPI production plant.

The former director of food safety for BPI, Kit Foshee, maintains that the company's CEO routinely told fast-food companies that the inclusion of treated beef would help kill pathogens when mixed with other ground beef.

"BPI is marketing themselves as a pinnacle of safety," Foshee said. "It's all lies. It's all marketing."

In less than a week, Houston food columnist and mother Bettina Siegel collected 200,000 petition signatures, mostly of parents, who object to the meat mixture being served to children. She plans to present the petition to the USDA.

link

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/where-you-can-get-pink-slime-free-beef/

Where You Can Get ‘Pink-Slime’-Free Beef

After an ABC News investigation detailing the use of a cheap meat filler, finely textured lean beef, commonly called pink slime, which is in 70 percent of the ground beef sold at supermarkets, J. Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute, defended the practice as a way to safely use what otherwise would be wasted.

“BLBT (Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings) is a sustainable product because it recovers lean meat that would otherwise be wasted,” he said in a statement.

However, the substance, critics said, is more like gelatin than meat, and before Beef Products Inc. found a way to use it by disinfecting the trimmings with ammonia it was sold only to dog food or cooking oil suppliers.

But Boyle says “the beef trimmings that are used to make BLBT are absolutely edible” and Janet Riley, senior vice president of public affairs for AMI, said there was no reason to label beef that contains “pink slime.”

“What are you asking me to put on the label, its beef, it’s on the label, it’s a beef product, it’s says beef so we are declaring … it’s beef,” she said.

But Kit Foshee, who, until 2001, was a corporate quality assurance manager at BPI, the company that makes pink slime, contends the trimmings bear little resemblance to beef.

“It kind of looks like Play-Doh,” he said. “It’s pink and frozen. It’s not what the typical person would consider meat.”

He and two former USDA inspectors told ABC News the filler commonly referred to as pink slime comes from a low grade of beef trimmings unlike what they call real ground beef. Foshee said that he was fired by BPI after complaining about the process used to make the filler, and the company’s claims about it. Since then, he has spoken out against the product.

The low-grade trimmings come from the parts of the cow most susceptible to contaminaton, often close to the hide, which is highly exposed to fecal matter. But because of BPI’s treatment of the trimmings — simmering them in low heat, separating fat and tissue using a centrifuge and spraying them with ammonia gas to kill germs — the United States Department of Agriculture says it’s safe to eat.

If you have questions about “pink slime,” email us at ABC.WorldNews@abc.com.

The company calls the final product “Finely Textured Lean Beef.” Foshee said it was not as nutritious as ground beef because the protein comes mostly from connective tissue, not muscle meat.

But BPI, its inventor and primary manufacturer, told ABC News in a letter from a lawyer today that pink slime was USDA approved beef and was nutritious.

“All beef is a good or excellent source of 10 essential nutrients, including protein, iron, zinc and B vitamins,” H. Russell Cross, head of the department of animal science at Texas A&M University, said in a statement to ABC News. ”Finely textured lean beef helps us meet consumer demand for safe, affordable and nutritious food.”

ABC News was flooded with questions from concerned viewers following its investigation into pink slime.

Many, like Dale Rittenhouse, wanted to know where beef with pink slime was sold.

“What stores use pink slime?” Rittenhouse wrote.

So ABC News traveled across the country to the meat section of grocery stores to see if it’s in the ground beef they sell. At most stores it was impossible to tell for sure whether the beef contained pink slime. At one store there was no way to know from the labels and the butchers did not know the answer.

ABC News emailed the top 10 grocery chains in America and seven responded:

1. Safeway

“We rely on the federal government to help guide us on food safety issues. USDA has been clear in its judgment that Lean Finely Textured Ground Beef is a safe source of nutrition. However, we are reviewing the matter at this time.”

2. Ahold (Stop & Shop/Giant)

“Stores operated by the divisions of Ahold USA do carry ground beef made with Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings (BLBT), also called Finely Textured Beef (FTB). Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings (BLBT) is beef and is absolutely safe for consumption. To make the product, beef companies use beef trimmings, which are the small cuts of beef that remain when larger cuts are trimmed down. These trimmings are USDA-inspected, wholesome cuts of beef. This process has been an industry standard for almost 20 years. Alternatives to the conventional ground beef supply, in the form of Certified Angus Beef and Nature’s Promise ground beef products, are available to customers in stores across all of the divisions of Ahold USA. These products do not include the use of BLBT. Customers are being encouraged to ask any meat associate should they have any questions or would like to be directed to meat that does not include Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings. Our labeling is in compliance with USDA regulations. BLBT is USDA tested and approved ground beef and therefore does not require labeling.”

3. Costco

Does not use pink slime.

“Anything that we sell at Costco we want to explain it’s origins, and I personally don’t know how to explain trim treated with ammonia in our ground beef,” Craig Wilson, vice president of quality assurance for Costco, told ABC News. “I just don’t know how to explain that. I’m not that smart.”

4. Publix

“We have never allowed the use of LFTB (pink slime) in our meat. It’s 100 percent ground beef with no LFTB.”

5. H-E-B

“All our ground beef sold at H-E-B is 100% pure with no additives.”

6. Whole Foods

Does not use pink slime.

7. Kroger

“We do not use finely textured beef in our fresh ground beef. … We are routinely presented the finely textured beef as an option, but have always refused.”

In addition to Whole Foods, Tops Markets told ABC News it does not use “pink slime.”

A viewer, Miles Herbert, wanted to know, “Is there any evidence that organic meat contains this pink slime?”

It turns out there isn’t. If your meat is stamped USDA Organic, it’s pure meat with no filler.

Otherwise, you can’t know from the packaging because pink slime does not have to appear on the label. And the USDA is giving no indication it will force meat packers to lift the veil of secrecy any time soon.

Edited March 15, 2012 by Why_Me

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

“Anything that we sell at Costco we want to explain it’s origins, and I personally don’t know how to explain trim treated with ammonia in our ground beef,” Craig Wilson, vice president of quality assurance for Costco, told ABC News. “I just don’t know how to explain that. I’m not that smart.”

I like this response.