'Pink slime' is good for America's schoolchildren

[jdegree]

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."

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/03/12/pink-slime-is-good-for-americas-schoolchildren-manufacturers-claim/?test=latestnews

[Growled Member]

May I see the studies you have that prove this, Beef Products Inc?

[mulder]

" 3) meets the budget parameters that allow the school lunch program to feed kids nationwide every day."

So, in other words, they can't afford to feed them quality beef so they would rather give them cancer. Govt officials in this country are so f'n stupid it boggles my mind.

[ArialBlue]

" 3) meets the budget parameters that allow the school lunch program to feed kids nationwide every day."

So, in other words, they can't afford to feed them quality beef so they would rather give them cancer. Govt officials in this country are so f'n stupid it boggles my mind.

You have a very idiotic idea that government officials care about people.

No, they care about money. If they care about people, we would have a good social safety net system for one.

[DocM]

The term "pink slime" is unfortunate and somewhat innacurate. It is lean meat trimmings , the small bits left over from making larger cuts, that have been washed in a weak ammonia solution then centrifuged to remove most of the liquid. The ammonia solution is used to kill E. coli and other bacteria that could otherwise cause food poisoning. Along with the centrifuged liquid also goes impurities (wash your food!!) and a bit of the fats.

As for the ammonia itself; your body needs ammonia in your diet anyhow - it's a precursor for many necessary nitrogen compounds and present in most living things including your blood. The liver removes it and turns into urea, which is excreted in urine. Fact is, your body makes far more ammonia than you'd ever get from "pink slime."

[mokthraka]

we had a debate about this in political science class. it was hilarious how uninformed everyone was, everyone was freaking out haha

[bjoswald]

I don't give a crap if the so-called "pink slime" changes chemicals in my brain to make me genius ... I'm not eating it if it's pink and slimy. It's beyond gross. But of course they'll come up with every possible excuse in the world to cover their asses. Next, they'll probably try to tell us Taco Bell meat is real...

[mokthraka]

I don't give a crap if the so-called "pink slime" changes chemicals in my brain to make me genius ... I'm not eating it if it's pink and slimy. It's beyond gross. But of course they'll come up with every possible excuse in the world to cover their asses. Next, they'll probably try to tell us Taco Bell meat is real...

like docm said, your body produces more ammonia then youll get through this.

[bjoswald]

like docm said, your body produces more ammonia then youll get through this.

I'm not concerned about the ammonia. Just thinking of strands of slimy pink worm-like shreds of meat makes my skin crawl.

[mokthraka]

I'm not concerned about the ammonia. Just thinking of strands of slimy pink worm-like shreds of meat makes my skin crawl.

its normal meat, ground up O_O. go to Mexico, they eat every part of a cow

[Rudy]

To be honest with you I'm fine with "Pink Slime", go ahead and sell it BUT I think it should be CLEARLY labeled.

So that way if you want cheap meat because you're buying on a budget and you don't mind PinkSlime then go ahead. I will spend the extra money and make sure it's excluded from my diet

[DocM]

Ever see grond steak when it comes out of the grinder? Extruded round strings - "worms" if you will and that's out of my Kitchen-Aid mixer using "the good stuff."

Take 1 lb of that steak burger, mix with 2/3 cup of warm water and you have "pink slime. " I make it all the time when cooking up finely chunked ground beef for tacos etc. - easier to get into small chunks. Just cook off the extra water and add the spices.

[+Xinok Subscriber²]

Studies have shown that processed foods (i.e. 99% of our food supply (I'm exaggerating, but not by much)) are much less healthy for us than all-natural foods. The more you process food, the more you destroy the natural molecules that are good for us and create unnatural compounds that have unknown long term side effects. Grass-fed open-range beef naturally has less bacteria in it, and it's only because of the environment and diet provided to these cows that they need to wash the beef in ammonia to kill the germs.

[nominak]

Studies have shown that processed foods (i.e. 99% of our food supply (I'm exaggerating, but not by much)) are much less healthy for us than all-natural foods. The more you process food, the more you destroy the natural molecules that are good for us and create unnatural compounds that have unknown long term side effects. Grass-fed open-range beef naturally has less bacteria in it, and it's only because of the environment and diet provided to these cows that they need to wash the beef in ammonia to kill the germs.

Kinda like how Organic is supposed to be better for you, yet 50 year studies have proven that to be not true?

[Rippleman]

Number 1 sales pitch in the world: Fear sells! (ask any religious folk lol)

ironic that the people that are worried about the pink slime consume (or take part in) tons more bad activities like smoking, coffee, caffeine, work around dangerous exhast, paint, etc etc etc that end up being way worse.

[+Xinok Subscriber²]

Kinda like how Organic is supposed to be better for you, yet 50 year studies have proven that to be not true?

Next time you're shopping for groceries, compare the nutritional value of the vegetarian-fed eggs compared to the cheap eggs. Lower cholesterol and much higher in vitamins and minerals.

Most grass-fed cattle are leaner than feedlot beef, lacking marbling, which lowers the fat content and caloric level of the meat. Meat from grass-fed cattle also have higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and the omega-3 fatty acids ALA, EPA, and DHA.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Grass-fed_beef#Health_and_nutrition

[Kasandoro]

When the so-called "organic" foods become affordable, instead of 2- sometimes even 3-times more expensive than the alternative (seriously, how is this the case when pesticides aren't used, or whatever?), I will eat them. In the meantime, I'll stick with my E. Coli-free pink-slime-ridden meats, thank you very much. :)

[nominak]

Next time you're shopping for groceries, compare the nutritional value of the vegetarian-fed eggs compared to the cheap eggs. Lower cholesterol and much higher in vitamins and minerals.

There's nothing wrong with cholesterol in moderation.

[DocM]

There's nothing wrong with cholesterol in moderation.

The cholesterol in eggs has actually been shown to be mildly beneficial, so eat away with moderation.

As for cholesterol in the blood - it's negative effects are strongly tied to inflammation, particularly of the blood vessel walls. These inflamed areas get cholesterol coatings as part of the immune defense mechanism, a natural band-aid, but if hey get too large we call them a plaque and they can cause heart disease, stroke etc.

Another interesting thing about those inflammed vessel walls is that under the placque is often found a bacteria colony - typically those found to cause ulcers in the gut or periodontal (gum) disease, which about 65% of people suffer from. Connect the dots.

[Shiranui]

Next up, Soylent Green.

[+Xinok Subscriber²]

There's nothing wrong with cholesterol in moderation.

All the cholesterol is in the egg yolk, so you could just eat the egg whites. But unfortunately, all the nutrition is also in the egg yolk.

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=raw+egg+yolk%2C+raw+egg+white

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

When the so-called "organic" foods become affordable, instead of 2- sometimes even 3-times more expensive than the alternative (seriously, how is this the case when pesticides aren't used, or whatever?), I will eat them. In the meantime, I'll stick with my E. Coli-free pink-slime-ridden meats, thank you very much. :)

Imho, it's the other way around. Organic produce costs are real - that's what it takes to produce healthy, quality products and sustain a fair business at the same time. While mass market producers rely on the economies of scale and implement various cost-cutting, efficiency-increasing measures...such as...

(seriously, how is this the case when pesticides aren't used, or whatever?)

The cost is higher because the yield is lower when they don't use the pesticides. Think about it. When they don't try to cut the corners (don't use the pesticides or the antibiotics) only the best crops will survive and grow, only the fittest of the livestock will develop. So in the end, you get a lesser quantity, but a higher quality.

[deactivated170812]

The term "pink slime" is unfortunate and somewhat innacurate. It is lean meat trimmings , the small bits left over from making larger cuts, that have been washed in a weak ammonia solution then centrifuged to remove most of the liquid.

So, kids are basically fed with leftovers.

[DocM]

Depends on your use of "left overs" - most of us had 2nd servings of primary meals all the time growing up, and they were less safe than "pink slime" is because they had no antibacterial treatment and less sanitary storage.

[User6060]

Whats the big deal with ammonia when its being used on the garbage sinew and tendons and fat that are ground together from the unusable animal meat waste

Its chemicals on top of garbage parts.