No doubt you've heard quite a bit about the controversy over the past month or two. Succumbing to a public outcry since 2010, when Food Revolution-ist, Jamie Oliver, pointedly blew the cover on the use in school lunches of what the beef industry refers to as "lean, finely textured beef," but more commonly known as "pink slime," by the public, fast food chains like Burger King, Taco Bell and McDonald's have announced that they will no longer use the less-than-appetizing meat filler in their beef products.
What is it?
Made of a mixture of cartilage, carcass trimmings, connective tissues and other scraps, the pink gelatinous substance was, until recently, used only in pet food products and was not considered fit for human consumption. In 2005, the USDA ruled that the product could be soaked in ammonia hydroxide (to kill bacteria like E. coli and salmonella) and mixed into commercially sold beef at a concentration of 15 percent--without notifying the consumer . About the same time, the agency began purchasing millions of pounds (reportedly 7 million a year ) of pink slime to be mixed into the meat that is served nationwide in school lunch programs. Without a word to the parents.
Is it Harmful?
Chances are if you have eaten ground beef--at restaurants, in processed frozen meals or pre-made patties at home--within the past seven years, you have eaten the filler. Since the USDA does not require labeling as long as the concentration remains under 15 % of the total product weight, only the telltale traces of an amonia scent might have provided a clue that your meat was padded with the slimey filler. Because the ground scraps have been soaked in the amonia solution, the meat industry maintains that the product is safe for consumption, but according a 2009 The New York Times article, school lunch meat with pink slime was positive for E. coli 3 times and salmonella 48 times between 2005 and 2009, when 27,000 batches of meat slated for school cafeterias were, according to the paper, "found to be contaminated."
What you can Do
In March, Change.org circulated an online petition demanding that the USDA stop using Pink Slime in school lunch meat. Within three weeks, the petition had over a quarter of a million signatures, and the USDA decided to allow individual school districts to decide for themselves whether or not they would allow the substance in their lunch meat. This move prompted many large districts, like the New York City School system and Boston schools, to announce that they would begin to "phase out" the slime from their lunch meats immediately. Beef Products, Inc., one of the major suppliers of Pink Slime, has reacted by shutting down some of its "Lean Finely Textured Beef" plants. But public outrage is still high, and many are calling for a complete ban of the product or, at the very least, mandatory labeling. If you would like to put your two cents in on this very important health topic, visit:http://stoppinkslime.org/ to join Jamie Oliver and the Food Revolution in this grassroots revolt against revolting additives in school lunch meat! Macaroni Kid Family Safety heartily endorses this action, as do Moms Rising, Healthy Child, Healthy World, Center for Ecoliteracy, Cook for America, and Food Day.
Of course, if you want to feed your family ground beef without worry, the safest bet is to buy locally raised, pastured, grass-fed or organic ground beef at your local butcher. That--or buy steaks, and use the meat grinder attachment on your mixer to grind it yourself.
