Pink Slime
 

Really interesting how this story took off the past few weeks.

-spence

I think that it shows that people will draw a line at what they'll put in their mouths. A thin line but a line none the less.

I think many people have been aware of the use of ammonia to produce cheap beef and raising conditions of poultry etc... For some time.

Really, this just shows how fubar our food supply has become.
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Yes, an unfortunate story from many angles. Questionable product, questionable production, lost jobs, shuttered companies.

Will this be the market voting with their feet? Or will this be mob rule? Or can this be salvaged in some way?

funny how some stories take odd twists and turns...:uhuh:

Iraqi Hate Crime Murder Probe Focuses on Family | Video - ABC News

Shaima Alawadi’s murder: Hate crime or honor killing? - Salon.com

Shaima Alawadi, Iraqi Woman Beaten To Death, Might Not Be Hate Crime Victim

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/04/05...-womans-death/

ScottW - you want to start that in a different topic? Or stick to this topic?

I think the awareness is valuable. The issue isn't even really the pink slime as much as it's that we've become dependent on proteins from industrial farming practices that aren't natural. We feed cows grain instead of grass, then jack them up with anti-biotics to keep them from dying as they grow twice as fast.

I remember one time in the late 1980's when we were out hunting pheasants...we pulled off to park into a field with a dozen cows munching on a pile of Fruit Loops about 12 feet high.

While scaling production to meet demand is certainly a challenge, if things were being done properly from the beginning they wouldn't be soaking beef in ammonia to kill e coli...because it wouldn't be there in the first place. Same goes for poultry.

It's interesting when I read threads and people are complaining about 5 buck a pound ground beef versus the 99 cent stuff like it's apples to apples. I'll gladly pay to have something processed from fresh meat on premise that day...and also recognize we're fortunate to be able to afford it.

-spence

It is all about feeding a world with populations in the 7-8 billion range, as inexpensively as possible. Every organism is made of the same basic components: protein, lipids, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids. To survive you require energy/food source. Let's everyone just starting drinking those blender style foods that nutritionist prefer, all the basic components just looks like green slime!

I'm comfortable drawing the comparison between Hoodys, Pink Slime and Hate Crime and others...all stories fanned by the media and interests promoting an agenda regardless of facts, by the time the facts emerge the damage is done and we're onto the next available crisis to be taken advantage of :)...seems to be a pattern...nice to remember occasionally what was alledged and where it actually ends up

RealClearPolitics - The Republicans' Pink Slime Budget

Soylent Green is closer than you think.
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:spam:

Lean, finely textured beef is made by heating fatty bits of meat left over from other cuts to about 100 F and spinning it to remove most of the fat. The lean mix is then compressed into blocks for use in ground meat and treated with ammonium hydroxide gas to kill bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella.I wonder if the government requires the use of ammonium hydroxide gas to prevent E. coli/salmonella contamination?



As a food additive, ammonium hydroxide gasis used as an antimicrobial. In the United States, ammonium hydroxide is classified by the Food and Drug Administration as generally recognized as safe (GRAS).[7] Some fast-food restaurants use beef that has been treated with ammonium hydroxide to make it safe, but McDonald's, Burger King and Taco Bell restaurants have recently stopped this practice.[8][9] Beef treated with ammonium hydroxide can still be found on grocery shelves.

this is pretty interesting...better toss out the burger, the bun...and everything in between
:uhuh:

Is ammonia used to produce BLBT?

Food‐grade ammonium hydroxide (basically ammonia + water), which has been declared safe by the Food and
Drug Administration since 1974, is used to produce a number of products such as puddings and baked goods
and can be used in the processing of boneless lean beef trimmings to control any harmful bacteria that may be
present in the raw, fresh product. Ammonia is naturally occurring, found in the human body, beef, other
proteins, and virtually all foods. It plays an important role in the body’s nitrogen cycle and in helping the body
synthesize the protein. It also maintains the pH level that the body needs.

Why is ammonium hydroxide used in processing a beef product?

A puff of ammonium hydroxide gas slightly raises the pH of a product and can destroy bacteria that could
make someone ill if a raw product is not cooked thoroughly. The lean meat is then frozen rapidly. The USDA,
after consultation with FDA, has determined that this use of ammonium hydroxide is safe. It is classified as
safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is approved in most other countries, including the
European Union. When used for meat processing, ammonium hydroxide creates an environment that is
unfriendly to pathogenic bacteria, such as E. coli O157:H7 and provides a significant food safety benefit.

How much ammonia is in beef or other foods?

Ammonia‐based compounds are naturally occurring and can be found in every component of a bacon
cheeseburger (bun, bacon, cheese, condiments, and beef). Between the naturally occurring levels and small
amounts used for food safety, beef may have about 200 ppm. So, for the illustration, we've taken these
amounts and multiplied by the weight of the typical bacon double cheeseburger to show the full picture.

 Bun ‐ 2 oz = 50 mg (440 ppm of ammonia)
 Bacon ‐ 1 oz = 16 mg (160 ppm ammonia)
 Condiments – 2 oz = 50 mg (400 ppm ammonia)
 Cheese – 1.5 oz = 76 mg (813 ppm ammonia)
 Beef – 3.2 oz = 40 mg (200 ppm ammonia)


http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8331B420120404

You forgot to post where those figures came from.

About Beef Products, Inc.
Eldon and Regina Roth, together with their children, Jennifer and Nick, lead Beef Products Inc. They are
recognized throughout the food industry for their food‐safety innovations and commitment to making the
highest‐quality lean beef. Headquartered in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, BPI maintains a Midwestern work
ethic that stresses safety and quality in everything they do. The company has NEVER had a foodborne illness
associated with their lean beef in over 30 years. In nearly 300,000,000,000 meals, they have been a recognized
leader in food safety by groups such as the International Association for Food Protection. In 2007, the
International Association for Food Protection awards BPI its highest honor, the Black Pearl Award due to BPI's
commitment to food safety.

Yes, believe the people who sell you lips and asses. Good idea.

I don't really come into this side of the site but the pink slime thread was something that caught my eye...

I know that they have been doing this with processed chicken for years now.. nuggets-patties... yummy...

neways.. I got a chuckle out of your post Nebe.. I saw Heston again saying it's made with people.. I just laughed...

Back in January an old friend sent me an email with this pic...

Too priceless..


Its here already...

don't forget the pesticide used on corn that's killing bee's, what's it doing to us :confused:

The only way to stop this tinkering with food is to stop buying from centralized producers. In other words, buy local.
Then there's the Monsanto problem, who I think may actually trying to monopolize food production. Control the food, control the people. Am I paranoid? I have no reason not to be.

You're comfortable because it fits a delusional agenda.

Outrage over over-industrialized processes is a natural market force, without which all we'd have would be hormone jacked, antibiotic jacked, processed in China and gassed to preserve color beef.

Agree on the local aspect. The small price premium is certainly worth the long-term benefits which will be easier to sustain as energy costs continue to climb.

-spence

that's funny...not very original...but funny :uhuh:


Tom Vilsack serves as the Nation's 30th Secretary of the Agriculture.

As leader of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Vilsack is working hard to strengthen the American agricultural economy, build vibrant rural communities and secure a stronger future for the American middle class.

In three years at the Department, Vilsack has worked to implement President Obama's agenda to put Americans back to work and create an economy built to last. USDA has supported farmers, ranchers and growers who are enjoying record earnings, provided food assistance to 1 in 4 Americans, conserved our natural resources and helped provide a safe, sufficient and nutritious food supply for the American people.

Secretary Vilsack shares President Obama's commitment to a rural economy that continues to reward hard work and responsibility while growing a strong middle class. To help drive innovation and build thriving economies in rural communities, USDA is promoting job growth and higher incomes through expanded production of renewable energy, outdoor recreational opportunities and development of local and regional food supplies.



Vilsack was particularly vehement in his assertion that if pink slime were not safe, the USDA, which is under his purview, would not approve the product for sale or consumption.


"I can guarantee you that if we felt that this was unsafe, we wouldn’t allow it to be marketed and we wouldn’t make it part of our school lunch program,” said Vilsack.

thanks for adding another to the list...

Multiple factors affecting colony health include “pathogens, parasites, pesticides and malnutrition,” he told the society, which is comprised of 7,500 scientists from academia, government, and industry from various countries around the globe.

Banned in some European countries is the class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids, which act on the central nervous system of insects, Mussen said, but scientific studies show that despite the ban, the bee population continues to suffer significant annual losses.

What about the role of genetically modified plants in bee health, he was asked. “They don’t appear to be a problem. One modified corn variety seemed to affect honey bees in lab studies, but it’s not being grown anymore. The honey bees don’t care if it’s genetically modified or not.”

As for viruses, “The harder we look, the more we find,” Mussen said.



Are Pesticides Killing Bees? Yes, But Not Exclusively - Davis, CA Patch

used to be that slaughter house owners in Chicago would check their effulent into the river to make sure not a single shred of pig was being wasted. No different now just more sophisticated tools

I'm not "pro" pink slime, my point is that this story like many others has little to do with the facts and more to do the promotion of an agenda furthured though distortion and emotional arguments that don't reflect reality....just read the posts

we'd have would be hormone jacked, antibiotic jacked, processed in China and gassed to preserve color beef. really?

don't forget the pesticide used on corn that's killing bee's, what's it doing to us really?

Yes, believe the people who sell you lips and asses. Good idea. really?

Soylent Green is closer than you think. at least Eben has a sense of humor

Really, this just shows how fubar our food supply has become. really?


I guess since the Administration is "pro" pink slime we should all hope that Obamacare is overturned so that Kathleen Sebilius doesn't/can't mandate that all Americans purchase pink slime and consume it as a healthy source of protein that will reduce healthcare costs by preventing E Coli and Salmonella (probably get the guy that does the unemployment numbers to concoct something) and reduce/prevent further Global Warming ("So, in the worst case, a total ban on pink slime would be like adding 1.2 million cars to the road, from a global-warming perspective.") according to Ezra Klein "Super-Lib" :)

Could banning “pink slime” be bad for the planet? - The Washington Post

I don't think I've ever claimed pink slime is not safe for human consumption. Once again, you're obsession with a few trees is blinding you.

-spence

I don't think I ever claimed that you claimed that pink slime is not safe for human consumption....just pointed out what was lacking in many of your presumptions

you appear to be tilting at windmills:)

"they wouldn't be soaking beef in ammonia to kill e coli..." ?????