Growing Outrage Over “Pink Slime” in School Lunches

[Tiso0770]

They need to ban this, I just got word they are serving this in Kentucky for school lunch....


Ever since the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) decision to buy seven million pounds of beef byproducts for use in the national school lunch program has made the news, there has been a rare public outcry, not often heard of in connection with food policies in this country.

“Pink slime,” which consists of low-grade beef trimmings, cartilage, connective tissue and other less than appetizing animal parts, ground up, chemically disinfected and pressed into a paste-like substance that can be used as meat filler, has been included in our ground beef supply for decades. According to a report by ABC News, 70 percent of ground beef sold in supermarkets in the U.S. contains these additives. Only certified organic meat is guaranteed to be without.

The USDA has declared “lean finely textured beef” (LFTB) – a more palatable term for “pink slime” – to be “generally safe” for consumption and does not require it to be labeled separately. In other words, unlike almost all other additives, including preservatives and artificial coloring agents, meat fillers don’t have to show up on ingredients lists or nutrition facts labels.

Since meat mixtures are more predisposed to E. coli and salmonella contamination than higher quality cuts, they are treated with a pathogen-killing chemical called ammonium hydroxide, which gives it the pink color. The company that sells ground beef treated with ammonia, Beef Products Incorporated (BPI), considers LFTB not only to be safe, but also nutritious and perfectly suited for school children to eat.

“Including in the national school lunch program’s beef products accomplishes three important goals,” said BPI spokesperson, Rich Jochum. “It improves the nutritional profile, increases the safety of the products and meets budget parameters that allow the school lunch program to feed kids nationwide every day.”

Cost considerations are undoubtedly a factor when the USDA decides what foods will be included in the program that feeds over 30 million kids every day for free or at reduced prices. Meat is expensive and using fillers can make a big difference in the budget. But it is less conceivable why the agency would take such a step at a time when it promotes higher nutrition standards in school cafeterias and urges kids to eat more fruits and vegetables and less empty calories. It’s a mixed message at best.

Even if the use of “pink slime” in the meat supply is safe, it offers no nutritional benefits to speak off. “Not only is this a potential source of killer pathogens if the ammonia levels are not controlled properly, but the overall protein quality of the beef hamburger is compromised by the inclusion of LFTB,” said Dr. Gerald Zirnstein, a microbiologist who worked at the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and who is credited with the first coining of the term “pink slime.”

The backlash against the USDA’s decision has been swift and still shows no signs of abating. Within a few days following the first reports in the press and social media, Houston-based food columnist, Bettina Siegel, was able to collect hundreds of thousands of petition signatures against the USDA plans, many from concerned parents. Other initiatives across the country have reported similar responses. The widespread attention and media coverage has prompted several fast food outlets like McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Burger King to announce their discontinuation of LFTB in their ground beef.

In the end, this whole episode may turn into an opportunity for consumers to become more discriminating in their food choices. Even if the government deems certain ingredients to be safe, it doesn’t mean they should not be listed and explained in great detail and plain English for everyone to understand. When it goes in our food in supermarkets, restaurants or school cafeterias, we have the right to know, so we can make informed choices. The USDA of all institutions should not set a bad example of how to avoid scrutiny.

Timi Gustafson R.D. is a clinical dietitian and author of the book “The Healthy Diner – How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun”®, which is available on her blog, “Food and Health with Timi Gustafson R.D.” (http://www.timigustafson.com), and at amazon.com. You can follow Timi on Twitter and on Facebook.
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http://blog.seattlepi.com/timigustafsonrd/2012/03/13/growing-outrage-over-%E2%80%9Cpink-slime%E2%80%9D-in-school-lunches/


ADDED:

Ammonium hydroxide is a colorless liquid chemical solution that forms when ammonia dissolves in water. This article discusses poisoning due to ammonium hydroxide.

This is for information only and not for use in the treatment or management of an actual poison exposure. If you have an exposure, you should call your local emergency number (such as 911) or the National Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222.
Poisonous Ingredient

Ammonium hydroxide
Where Found

Ammonium hydroxide is found in many industrial products and cleaners such as flooring strippers, brick cleaners, and cements.

Ammonium hydroxide can also release ammonia gas into the air.

Ammonia alone (not ammonium hydroxide) can be found in many household items such as detergents, stain removers, bleaches, and dyes. The symptoms and treatment for ammonia exposure are similar to those for ammonium hydroxide.

Note: This list may not be all inclusive.
Symptoms

Airways and lungs
Breathing difficulty (from inhalation)
Coughing
Throat swelling (which may also cause breathing difficulty)
Wheezing
Eyes, ears, nose, and throat
Severe pain in the throat
Severe pain or burning in the nose, eyes, ears, lips, or tongue
Vision loss
Esophagus, stomach, and intestines
Blood in the stool
Burns of the esophagus (food pipe) and stomach
Severe abdominal pain
Vomiting, possibly with blood
Heart and blood
Collapse
Low blood pressure (develops rapidly)
Severe change in pH (too much or too little acid in the blood, which leads to damage in all of the body organs)
Skin
Burns
Holes in skin tissue (necrosis)
Irritation

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002491.htm

[1stAmendguy]

What's even more stomach churning is the substance that supposedly holds the different kinds of meat together. It's called meat glue.

[Tiso0770]

This is not even fit for a pet....floor stripper!?!?.....Ugh!!!

[ryanmkeisling]

"They" (you mean the state) don't need to do anything. The government is not your protector, you are. Stop buying it, stop allowing your kids to buy it in their school lunches, and complain to the school administration about putting it into your childrens food. This isn't the only meat filler/waste product on the market, and many of the fast food places use this stuff as well.

The idea that the government should pass some law to protect consumers from this is crazy and anathema to this whole movement. They are serving this country wide to a populace hell bent on getting most of its calories from protien gluttony which is not sustainable or healthy living, even the meat in the supermarket has this stuff in it. The last thing we need is more laws and more restrictions, what is needed is an informed populace willing to be accountable.

The answer is never, "they need to ban this," that is how the war on drugs got started. It isn't as if pink slime is killing people, it may contribute to poor health, but there are far worse problems in our food supply, and the way to fix it is to not buy it, not have the government spend more money to protect you. You still believe the state has your best interests in mind?

[Sam I am]

I'm not worried about it.



Also

dihydrogen monoxide is a colorless liquid chemical solution. This article discusses poisoning due to dihydrogen monoxide.

This is for information only and not for use in the treatment or management of an actual poison exposure. If you have an exposure, you should call your local emergency number (such as 911) or the National Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222.
Poisonous Ingredient

dihydrogen monoxide
Where Found

dihydrogen monoxide is found in many industrial products and cleaners such as flooring strippers, brick cleaners, and cements.

dihydrogen monoxide can also release gas into the air.

dihydrogen monoxide can be found in many household items such as detergents, stain removers, bleaches, and dyes.


Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:



Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.
DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
Contributes to soil erosion.
Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits.
Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.
Given to vicious dogs involved in recent deadly attacks.
Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere, and in hurricanes including deadly storms in Florida, New Orleans and other areas of the southeastern U.S.
Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect.






http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/e...cle/002491.htm

[angelatc]

blah blah blah. Real life is too hard for some people. Apparently I"ve been eating it since I was a child, and yet I don't have cancer, allergies, autism - nothing.

They find a way to use more of the carcass (which is known as improving efficiency) and that's a bad thing?

Liberal do-gooders suck so much out of society - they're the real slime.

[donnay]

The elite has the best of the best foods--all organically grown and they even have an entourage go with them when they travel. They look down their noses at all of us. I hope this information shocks more people! However, it needs to shock you to your core, and you need to do something about it! Of course they could use cow patties and add MSG in it to trick people into thinking it is a gourmet meal. Don't eat fast food anymore and buy local and from people you know. Learn how to prepare food from scratch, is truly important. Not only are these foods making people fat, they are ruining your internal organs!!

About 8 years ago I found out that chicken McNuggets had a chemical in it that is used in silly puddy. I knew a McDonald hamburger could have as much as a 100 cows meat in one burger. That is truly disgusting. How many of those cows could have been sick, and how could they track it if someone got sick? Not to mention they pack soybean meal and cracked barley in the meat to stop it from shrinking when they cook it.

If your children have to eat in Public schools, pack a lunch! Most school foods are eradicated too.

[DerailingDaTrain]

blah blah blah. Real life is too hard for some people. Apparently I"ve been eating it since I was a child, and yet I don't have cancer, allergies, autism - nothing.

They find a way to use more of the carcass (which is known as improving efficiency) and that's a bad thing?

Liberal do-gooders suck so much out of society - they're the real slime.

Seriously? It is definitely a bad thing that they are stripping scraps off of bone that is mostly fat and then pumping chemicals into it and serving it to people without labeling it.

[angelatc]

Seriously? It is definitely a bad thing that they are stripping scraps off of bone that is mostly fat and then pumping chemicals into it and serving it to people without labeling it.

OMG! There's bits of dead animals in my meat!!!!

What, exactly should that label say? "This meat contains meat that was processed in the most efficient manner possible, keeping the price of food down for everyone?"


Seriously, they've processed it this way for decades. Liberals aren't happy people, and they just want to drag everybody else down with them. The whine-of-the-month club.

[angelatc]

The elite has the best of the best foods--all organically grown and they even have an entourage go with them when they travel. They look down their noses at all of us. I hope this information shocks more people! However, it needs to shock you to your core, and you need to do something about it! Of course they could use cow patties and add MSG in it to trick people into thinking it is a gourmet meal. Don't eat fast food anymore and buy local and from people you know. Learn how to prepare food from scratch, is truly important. Not only are these foods making people fat, they are ruining your internal organs!!

About 8 years ago I found out that chicken McNuggets had a chemical in it that is used in silly puddy. I knew a McDonald hamburger could have as much as a 100 cows meat in one burger. That is truly disgusting. How many of those cows could have been sick, and how could they track it if someone got sick? Not to mention they pack soybean meal and cracked barley in the meat to stop it from shrinking when they cook it.

If your children have to eat in Public schools, pack a lunch! Most school foods are eradicated too.

So grow your own food and leave the rest of us alone already. My kids are fine - leave them alone too. You can quit preaching to us. We already realize that you're far smarter than we are. OK?

[UtahApocalypse]

My problem is not so much the "pink slime" itself. The problem is that it is not identified as an ingredient. I believe that consumers have a right to be able to choose what to eat based on full knowledge of what it is. When I buy 100% Beef that is what I want, not 99.9% beef with unlabeled, or documented additives.

Speaking of labeling.....

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa299/Utah4RonPaul/100Tomato.jpg

[Sam I am]

My problem is not so much the "pink slime" itself. The problem is that it is not identified as an ingredient. I believe that consumers have a right to be able to choose what to eat based on full knowledge of what it is. When I buy 100% Beef that is what I want, not 99.9% beef with unlabeled, or documented additives.

Would you go so far as to say that food producers should be obligated to put a complete and detailed ingredients list on their products?

[angelatc]

My problem is not so much the "pink slime" itself. The problem is that it is not identified as an ingredient. I believe that consumers have a right to be able to choose what to eat based on full knowledge of what it is. When I buy 100% Beef that is what I want, not 99.9% beef with unlabeled, or documented additives.

Speaking of labeling.....

http://i196/aa299/Utah4RonPaul/100Tomato.jpg

So you're here, advocating that the government force food manufacturers put labels on their food.

I so wish I didn't have kids - it appears that there's not a chance in hell the liberty movement is ever going to succeed.

[UtahApocalypse]

So you're here, advocating that the government force food manufacturers put labels on their food.

I so wish I didn't have kids - it appears that there's not a chance in hell the liberty movement is ever going to succeed.

where did I call for government intervention?

I didn't so quit putting words into my mouth.

COMPANIES should post the information on the product, or at least online. Should Government force them? No, I never said that. I would choose to business with such a business over one that did not.

[angelatc]

where did I call for government intervention?

I didn't so quit putting words into my mouth.

COMPANIES should post the information on the product, or at least online. Should Government force them? No, I never said that. I would choose to business with such a business over one that did not.

So you're eating all organic already then?

[donnay]

So grow your own food and leave the rest of us alone already. My kids are fine - leave them alone too. You can quit preaching to us. We already realize that you're far smarter than we are. OK?


I do grow my own food, and damn proud of it too. It's hard work but someone has to do it!

You seem to be caught up in that false left/right paradigm. You know the one where everything is blamed on liberals. :rolleyes:

[bolil]

"low-grade beef trimmings, cartilage, connective tissue and other less than appetizing animal parts, ground up"

Bananah nah nah... I'm loving it. Thats the good stuff.

[donnay]

So you're here, advocating that the government force food manufacturers put labels on their food.

I so wish I didn't have kids - it appears that there's not a chance in hell the liberty movement is ever going to succeed.

You assume people want government involved. There you go thinking like a rabid neocon!

In a truly free society people would be the regulators, but how can one regulate what they buy if they don't know what the hell they are buying???

[Danke]

http://cdn.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/the-real-pink-slime.jpg

[angelatc]

You assume people want government involved. There you go thinking like a rabid neocon!

In a truly free society people would be the regulators, but how can one regulate what they buy if they don't know what the hell they are buying???

Why do you think they don't already know???? Again, leave people the hell alone already. Just because they aren't rabid about the same things you are doesn't mean they're ignorant or uninformed.

[angelatc]

http://cdn.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/the-real-pink-slime.jpg

Who cares? It's meat that's been processed to make it edible. Not sure why that upsets so many people, but it's pretty scary that it does.

[angelatc]

"low-grade beef trimmings, cartilage, connective tissue and other less than appetizing animal parts, ground up"

Bananah nah nah... I'm loving it. Thats the good stuff.

Exactly! Thanks to technology, we can now process and consume parts of the carcass that used to be wasted! That eliminates contaminating landfills and acts to keep food prices down and profits up.

Improved efficiency is good, not bad.

[donnay]

Why do you think they don't already know???? Again, leave people the hell alone already. Just because they aren't rabid about the same things you are doesn't mean they're ignorant. or uninformed.

You serious have problems, lady. I am rabid about liberty and about transparency. Not government interferences and allowing Big Agra and Big pHARMa to dictate to us. So get a clue why don't you.

[Drex]

I can speak for my school. We haven't gotten any beef any hamburgers for 2-3 weeks. Every day it's chicken.

[Jamesiv1]

It's quite good on Ritz crackers with a dab of spicy brown mustard.

[heavenlyboy34]

Who cares? It's meat that's been processed to make it edible. Not sure why that upsets so many people, but it's pretty scary that it does.People who want to make informed decisions about what they eat care. The only really upsetting part about it is that info about it was previously unknown. Would I eat it? Maybe-I'd have to look into it. I prefer real chicken instead of nuggets in general anyway. It kind of reminds me of sausage making. It's an ugly process, but tastes good in the end.

[BamaAla]

This is why I kill cows with my bare hands and eat them raw!

Pink slime injected meat doesn't sound all that appetizing to me, but I stick to grass fed organic beef.

If you're going to have public schools with food paid for by the citizens, the $10 a pound ground beef I like isn't going to cut it; you're going to have to live with processed meats as to be austere.

[QuickZ06]

I try my hardest to buy organic, but ever since I moved back here to Texas its a lot harder to find places like Trader Joe's and such. I think the food people would consume would change dramatically if they had to label everything that is in your food.

I would bet we all have something wrong with us, although I hope thats not the case. Its just, there is so much crap we are exposed to its insane and practically impossible not to be effected by it.

[donnay]

I try my hardest to buy organic, but ever since I moved back here to Texas its a lot harder to find places like Trader Joe's and such. I think the food people would consume would change dramatically if they had to label everything that is in your food.

I would bet we all have something wrong with us, although I hope thats not the case. Its just, there is so much crap we are exposed to its insane and practically impossible not to be effected by it.


I know for a fact Trader Joe's is going to Texas. One is being constructed in Plano, Texas. Plus there are a lot more ranchers in Texas, that I am sure you could call them and buy grass-fed beef from them.

Farmers markets are also great places to buy your produce and dairy. Lot's of Co-ops too.

[QuickZ06]

I know for a fact Trader Joe's is going to Texas. One is being constructed in Plano, Texas. Plus there are a lot more ranchers in Texas, that I am sure you could call them and buy grass-fed beef from them.

Farmers markets are also great places to buy your produce and dairy. Lot's of Co-ops too.

+rep!

Ahh I did not think of the co-ops, everything else is about 4 hours away from my place =( I can't wait till they build some Trader Joe's though.

[MikeStanart]

This is why I kill cows with my bare hands and eat them raw!

Pink slime injected meat doesn't sound all that appetizing to me, but I stick to grass fed organic beef.

If you're going to have public schools with food paid for by the citizens, the $10 a pound ground beef I like isn't going to cut it; you're going to have to live with processed meats as to be austere.

I agree; but what worries me is the trend lately to force kids to eat school luches, because their kid didn't have "a well balanced meal" according to some lunch Nazi; so then they force-feed the kid shit I wouldn't feed my dog. THAT I have a problem with.

[BamaAla]

I agree; but what worries me is the trend lately to force kids to eat school luches, because their kid didn't have "a well balanced meal" according to some lunch Nazi; so then they force-feed the kid shit I wouldn't feed my dog. THAT I have a problem with.

Absolutely. I recall some stories where public school kids weren't allowed to bring lunches and were forced to eat that crap. Seems it was in a poor black section of Chicago.

[SisCyn]

Our local radio station, that I listen to at work, is "Ag" based. Last week I heard Trent Loos (Loos Tales) comment about what a bad rap the media was giving pink slime. They call it something else, like lean meat scraps something.

Then I heard another radio program say something to the same effect, that it was a real slam job.

Today I heard that Gov. Terry Brandstad of Iowa issued a statement, reiterating the same thing, calling it a 'smear campaign'.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501363_162-57408156/branstad-seeks-congressional-probe-on-pink-slime/

[heavenlyboy34]

I know for a fact Trader Joe's is going to Texas. One is being constructed in Plano, Texas. Plus there are a lot more ranchers in Texas, that I am sure you could call them and buy grass-fed beef from them.

Farmers markets are also great places to buy your produce and dairy. Lot's of Co-ops too.
Congrats to Tejanos! It's my fave store. I promise you'll luv it. :)

[donnay]

Congrats to Tejanos! It's my fave store. I promise you'll luv it. :)

I know about the ones in Texas because I have family there.


I am already a big fan!! They are building them in New Hampshire finally. But I have to resort to Massachusetts until they do.

[BamaAla]

I know about the ones in Texas because I have family there.


I am already a big fan!! They are building them in New Hampshire finally. But I have to resort to Massachusetts until they do.

Trader Joe's is okay, but I prefer Whole Foods to it or Earth Fare. I like Fresh Market better than all of them, but it's really a different kind of store.

[donnay]

Trader Joe's is okay, but I prefer Whole Foods to it or Earth Fare. I like Fresh Market better than all of them, but it's really a different kind of store.

That's a definite; to each his own. Whole Foods is too expensive. My husband refers to it as "Whole Paycheck Foods." I, personally, like my own co-ops and farm stores that we have, and in the summer I grow my own. I rarely go to a supermarket any more.

[John F Kennedy III]

blah blah blah. Real life is too hard for some people. Apparently I"ve been eating it since I was a child, and yet I don't have cancer, allergies, autism - nothing.

They find a way to use more of the carcass (which is known as improving efficiency) and that's a bad thing?

Liberal do-gooders suck so much out of society - they're the real slime.

Lol.

"I ain't dead yet, keep smoking kids."

[Kluge]

You don't want your kid eating "pink slime?"

Take 5 minutes every morning and pack their lunch for god's sake.

[specsaregood]

"low-grade beef trimmings, cartilage, connective tissue and other less than appetizing animal parts, ground up"

Bananah nah nah... I'm loving it. Thats the good stuff.

Totally, thats how you made good soup stock.

[specsaregood]

I believe that consumers have a right to be able to choose what to eat based on full knowledge of what it is.

So you're here, advocating that the government force food manufacturers put labels on their food.



where did I call for government intervention?
I didn't so quit putting words into my mouth.
COMPANIES should post the information on the product, or at least online. Should Government force them? No, I never said that. I would choose to business with such a business over one that did not.

To be fair, you made it a "right", not a choice. It appears you realized your mistake after angela called you out on it, thats why you switched it to "companies should post the information". Making it "should" means it isn't a "right".


edit: and mind you, i would support a govt mandate forcing labeling of food ingredients. it is ok if that is your position, don't get scared off of it.

[donnay]

Totally, thats how you made good soup stock.


I never make my stock from Grade F (Circus animals) meat.

[specsaregood]

I never make my stock from Grade F (Circus animals) meat.

then you are missing out my dear!

[donnay]

"Pink Slime" manufacturer turns out to be a major Romney donor
http://www.nerve.com/news/politics/pink-slime-manufacturer-turns-out-to-be-a-major-romney-donor


Inevitably, appropriately, the corporation behind much-hyped and much-maligned "pink slime" is run by a key Mitt Romney donor. Eldon Roth, the founder of Beef Products, is such a big Romney supporter that he's even cited in the candidate's 2010 book, No Apology, as a paragon of the American dream:

"America's industries and domestic markets are, in fact, breeding grounds for innovation. A young Eldon Roth held a blue-collar job in a cold-storage plant where beef was frozen soon after it was butchered. His idea: Instead of slowly freezing the meat in walk-in freezers, why not place the beef on conveys and pass it between two supercold drums, instantly freezing it to lock in flavor? Eldon now owns a very large jet. Far more important than that, he has created hundreds of jobs."

This adulation most likely relates to the $190,000 of beef money Roth donated to Romney's campaign in 2010, or the fundraiser he threw for him last year. Then again, it's in keeping with everything we already know about Mitt Romney that he'd be more impressed by jet ownership than, say, concern for protecting the public from ingesting disgusting chemicals in their food.

Romney has yet to comment on his connection to Roth, but I have to assume a painfully misguided sound-bite ("I'm not concerned with the very fat...") is just around the corner for Slimegate 2012.

[donnay]

Meat Industry to Retaliate for Pink Slime Exposure with Higher Prices; USDA and FDA Escape Scrutiny
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/04/meat-industry-to-retaliate-for-pink.html

eather Callaghan and Michael Edwards
Activist Post

Beef Products International (BPI) is facing their biggest public relations disaster yet.

The people have spoken and want nothing to do with their flowery sounding "lean finely textured beef." Kroger Co. chain has added itself to the growing "We do not carry Pink Slime" list as well as countless delis reassuring customers on their signs.

BPI is closing three out of their four branches in Amarillo, Texas; Garden City, Kansas; and Waterloo, Iowa -- South Sioux City, Nebraska will remain open. BPI has one month to placate customers or possibly vanish forever. One month to undue 20 years of silent profit. Profit from supermarkets, fast food chains, and school cafeterias.

But what about the real foxes in the hen house -- the USDA and FDA? And what will happen to the price of "healthy" meat?

America's food regulatory agencies approved, as safe, meat trimmings not fit for animal feed that will only preclude death by food poisoning if first soaked in ammonia -- which is poisonous and not effective against all pathogens, especially newer resistant ones.

Robert Menendez told Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, "The leftover scraps...come from parts of the cow with high exposure to fecal matter."

So the USDA graciously gives school lunch programs the option of not buying meat with filler that literally is not considered fit to feed dogs only after petitions with hundreds of thousands of signatures begged them to remove it. Unlike the producers of pink slime, the regulatory agencies themselves have escaped media scrutiny -- they aren't closing any branches. No PR disaster for them, even though they waved it in for school children as adequate for their nutritional guidelines.

But the truth is, it is not meant for human consumption. Period. And no amount of PR painting can undue the damage of people's trust in the current food industry.

The Threat

This exposure is already leading to higher meat prices, and there are signs that the beef industry is set to retaliate against an awakening public. A piece in USA Today entitled, "Beef Industry Braces for Loss of 'Pink Slime' Filler" reads more like a beef industry press release as it refers to the hazardous material as a "low-fat beef product" that has been essentially victimized by social media, as if there is not ample evidence to back up the public outcry. An inset image of a BPI worker and his family reads:

The Licons are just one of many families who face an uncertain future after Beef Products International suspended operations at its Holcomb, Kan., plant.

While this outcome is unfortunate, it is quite a bit more unfortunate that the product itself was ever allowed onto the table of countless millions without their knowledge about what they were actually eating.

The USA Today report goes on to emphasize that social media is the culprit in all of this, adding nothing factual to refute what the public has come to understand:

'This shows the impact of the social media,' said Kevin Concannon, former director of the Iowa Department of Human Services and now Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services. 'There is absolutely no evidence that this product is unsafe, and it is low-fat.'

Those comments are nothing more than a desperate attempt to redirect the argument as an appeal to people's programmed positive response toward anything deemed "low-fat," as if the poisonous ammonia bath it receives should be dismissed as a natural consequence of offering something that is ultimately healthy. Moreover, this refrain was echoed by the industry itself, giving further credence to "fat free" being a propaganda point:

'It’s crazy,' said Des Moines meat wholesale Phil Barber of Brewer Meats, which he said has not knowingly used meat with the filler. Barber nonetheless said of the fillings, 'they’re free of E. coli, and they’re 95 percent fat free.' (Source)

Beef prices are just coming off all-time highs, and it appears that the industry will use this scandal as justification for surging prices in its wake. According to a spokesperson for the Hy-Vee supermarket chain:

'The industry is telling us that the removal of this filler is the equivalent of losing 1.5 million head of cattle, and cattle already are in tight supply,' said Hy-Vee spokeswoman Ruth Comer. Hy-Vee is pulling ground beef with the 'lean finely textured trimmings,' also referred pejoratively as pink slime, from its shelves.

And, again, there is a thinly veiled condemnation of the now-educated consumer. But it certainly sounds like something positive for commodity traders such as Dennis Smith of Archer Financial Services in Chicago:

'Long term the refusal by consumers to use this product (lean finely textured beef) will make less beef available and force prices higher. If that’s what the consumer wants, that’s what they’ll get,' Smith said.

So, how many schools will actually opt out of buying pink slime in the face of rising prices? My best guess based on having worked in the public school system and viewing how schools go for the lowest bid on lunch foods -- most schools will not opt out if they have to pay one penny more for slimeless meat. Food quality is one of the first casualties of budget issues.

For the first year of this scandal, they will tell concerned parents that they've already ordered next year's food based on their allotted budget. The next year, if the buzz hasn't died down, they will wait until there is an outcry and then bemoan the higher meat prices.

A similar scenario played out in last season's Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution after he tirelessly overhauled a cafeteria with healthy fresh foods for the same price. He came back to find them serving garbage again. A school lunch program minion also forced him to serve french fries because his seven-veggie pasta only counted as one vegetable according to their guidelines!

Why We Should Laugh At Price Threats

Here's a thought: higher meat prices will put typical staph-infected, radiated hormone-pumped beef neck in neck with grass-fed organic beef prices -- that, amazingly, for all the care that goes into the real happy cows, has only cost a few dollars more per pound this whole time. Grass-fed producers will not be affected by these price hikes -- they've never used filler and their prices are based on the care that goes into their stock. So why pay more for less when the same dollar amount can bring real nutrition?

Our current food mafia is losing ground as the ugly truth continues to spread. If you watched, read, researched, talked about, signed petitions, or shared this food fiasco with anyone -- you're an activist, not a wet blanket! The agencies that take our money to give us poison and call it nutrition should be ashamed, not us.

We vote with our forks -- Decentralize!

[specsaregood]

//

[heavenlyboy34]

To be fair, you made it a "right", not a choice. It appears you realized your mistake after angela called you out on it, thats why you switched it to "companies should post the information". Making it "should" means it isn't a "right".


edit: and mind you, i would support a govt mandate forcing labeling of food ingredients. it is ok if that is your position, don't get scared off of it.
Corporations will find a way around it or manipulate it to dupe folks and/or bribe the "watchers" to look the other way. Waste of time. Government regs don't work. ETA: the cost of compliance will also force out small businesses.

[specsaregood]

Corporations will find a way around it or manipulate it to dupe folks. Waste of time.

Meh, you mean the ones with the most to lose? I doubt it. I have no problem mandating the listing of ingredients and putting in harsh fines and castration for those violating it on purpose.

[Anti Federalist]

"They" (you mean the state) don't need to do anything. The government is not your protector, you are. Stop buying it, stop allowing your kids to buy it in their school lunches, and complain to the school administration about putting it into your childrens food. This isn't the only meat filler/waste product on the market, and many of the fast food places use this stuff as well

Trouble is, when you do that, you get in trouble with the state, and they force your child to eat what they determine to be wholesome.

[specsaregood]

Corporations will find a way around it or manipulate it to dupe folks and/or bribe the "watchers" to look the other way. Waste of time. Government regs don't work. ETA: the cost of compliance will also force out small businesses.

pfft. I can go to the grocery store or even farmers market and get thousands of goods with the ingredients listed. it seems this regulation is working. and as far as putting small businesses out of business with compliance costs, dont be effing silly. its a one time cost to list the ingredients and work it into the packaging. that isn't putting them out of business.

[donnay]

So this stuff has been served for over 20years and eaten by millions and now its an issue? If it is truly unfit for consumption there must be tens of millions of cases of people getting sick off it. Where can i find a listing of these incidents?

So what you are saying is, because government said it was safe to eat, it must be? They wouldn't lie to you, now would they?


Have you not noticed the cancer rates are up? Especially in children?

Cancer Rates: Adults Down, Kids Up
http://www.realnatural.org/2012/03/30/cancer-rates-adults-down-kids-up/

[specsaregood]

So what you are saying is, because government said it was safe to eat, it must be? They wouldn't lie to you, now would they?
There is nothing about government written or implied in my comment you quoted. It wasn't even a thought in my mind when I wrote it. I'm saying thousands of people have eaten it and they aren't dropping around like flies.

[donnay]

Meh, you mean the ones with the most to lose? I doubt it. I have no problem mandating the listing of ingredients and putting in harsh fines and castration for those violating it on purpose.


I am not for government to tell any business what to do. If the people want labels then they should be the ones to demand it not government. If a business wants to stay in business then they can comply or simply go out of business.

A good portion of the organic community is willing to do it, but government is preventing them. See it is all about what the government wants, not the people.

[heavenlyboy34]

pfft. I can go to the grocery store or even farmers market and get thousands of goods with the ingredients listed. it seems this regulation is working. and as far as putting small businesses out of business with compliance costs, dont be effing silly. its a one time cost to list the ingredients and work it into the packaging. that isn't putting them out of business.
No, it's not a one time cost. It costs money to print things. (no joke-one of the requirements for my certification was printing and I studied with a prepress operator, so I know a bit about this kind of thing.) Then there's printing all the stuff on the FDA label (% of fat, calories, etc) plus mandated logos/marks and doing that to standard. If you aren't printing on a really large scale, costs add up pretty quickly. Plus, if they can mandate that, they have the power to come up with much harsher regs. Further, if customers really want an ingredients list, a company (even a company of one employee) can post it online for almost nothing.

[specsaregood]

I am not for government to tell any business what to do. If the people want labels then they should be the ones to demand it not government. If a business wants to stay in business then they can comply or simply go out of business.

A good portion of the organic community is willing to do it, but government is preventing them. See it is all about what the government wants, not the people.

I get the principle of what you are saying. But the pragmatist in me says thats pie in the sky idea and that required food labeling isn't even close to my biggest worry.

The organic community is way stricter. I have family in the food business. They had to undergo a complete audit by whole foods of their entire supply chain in order to sell to them. Then when they started selling gluten-free stuff they had to undergo another audit by some gluten free group. They compared both audits as something similar to something a proctologist might perform. :)

[donnay]

There is nothing about government written or implied in my comment you quoted. It wasn't even a thought in my mind when I wrote it. I'm saying thousands of people have eaten it and they aren't dropping around like flies.

Well it would be quite obvious that if someone ate the pink slime and instantaneously died, then more attention would have been brought to the peoples attention in the last twenty years.

However, we are seeing more and more cases of E-coli in the last twenty years too.

[specsaregood]

No, it's not a one time cost. It costs money to print things. Then there's printing all the stuff on the FDA label (% of fat, calories, etc) and doing that to standard. If you aren't printing on a really large scale, costs add up pretty quickly. Plus, if they can mandate that, they have the power to come up with much harsher regs. Further, if customers really want an ingredients list, a company (even a company of one employee) can post it online for almost nothing.

please. those costs are negligible considered to everything else. of all the requirements to negate, this is probably the least beneficial to the companies and one of the most beneficial to the public. pick your battles.

[specsaregood]

However, we are seeing more and more cases of E-coli in the last twenty years too.
Or just more national media attention. Heck, you probably see more e-coli cases from non-meat. Most of the ones i recall are from vegetables.

[heavenlyboy34]

please. those costs are negligible considered to everything else. of all the requirements to negate, this is probably the least beneficial to the companies and one of the most beneficial to the public. pick your battles.
As I said, it's very cheap to big companies. Small firms, not necessarily. Let people decide, not political bodies. The latter is not a rational means of decision-making.

[specsaregood]

As I said, it's very cheap to big companies. Small firms, not necessarily. Let people decide, not political bodies. The latter is not a rational means of decision-making.

You speak from experience? You think they are paying a lot more for a few bits of text? I think not. Political bodies are people; unless you think they are run by robots.

[donnay]

Or just more national media attention. Heck, you probably see more e-coli cases from non-meat. Most of the ones i recall are from vegetables.

Big Agra and the factory farms have been the ones spreading E. Coli, Salmonella and other deadly bacteria because of unsanitary conditions and crowded spaces for their live stock.

There is a push to eradiate our foods, this way they will tell you it kills the bacteria. Do you really want to eat food that has been radiated?

[specsaregood]

There is a push to eradiate our foods, this way they will tell you it kills the bacteria. Do you really want to eat food that has been radiated?

I'm quite sure i've eaten many tons of it.

[puppetmaster]

I find pink slime disgusting. Just goes to show you should grow your own. I guess this type of food production will thin the herd

[donnay]

I'm quite sure i've eaten many tons of it.

That's sad. Because when they eradiate foods it loses all it's nutritional value. You may as well eat cardboard.

[DerailingDaTrain]

Big Agra and the factory farms have been the ones spreading E. Coli, Salmonella and other deadly bacteria because of unsanitary conditions and crowded spaces for their live stock.

There is a push to eradiate our foods, this way they will tell you it kills the bacteria. Do you really want to eat food that has been radiated?

This

Vegetables get contaminated from runoff which comes from huge feed lots.

[donnay]

This

Vegetables get contaminated from runoff which comes from huge feed lots.

Yay! we agree! :cool:

*does the chicken dance*

[UtahApocalypse]

To be fair, you made it a "right", not a choice. It appears you realized your mistake after angela called you out on it, thats why you switched it to "companies should post the information". Making it "should" means it isn't a "right".


edit: and mind you, i would support a govt mandate forcing labeling of food ingredients. it is ok if that is your position, don't get scared off of it.

2nd person to put words in my mouth in this thread.

As a consumer I do have a right to know what I put in my body. Once again right does NOT equal government force. So no I did not "realize my mistake" as I meant what I said. While I do have a RIGHT to know what is in what I eat, Companies have a RIGHT to disclose it or not.... I think that they SHOULD


feel like im talking to my 2 month old and have to spell it out for people. Quit ASSUMING and putting words into my mouth.

[Brian4Liberty]

“Pink slime,” which consists of low-grade beef trimmings, cartilage, connective tissue and other less than appetizing animal parts, ground up, chemically disinfected and pressed into a paste-like substance that can be used as meat filler, has been included in our ground beef supply for decades.


So this stuff has been served for over 20years and eaten by millions and now its an issue? If it is truly unfit for consumption there must be tens of millions of cases of people getting sick off it. Where can i find a listing of these incidents?

Interesting. Colbert did a segment on it last night. He quoted a news source that said it was first put in human food in 2001. Before that it only went into dog food.

Enjoy:

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/411470/april-02-2012/the-beefstate-governors

[Original_Intent]

It was pretty clear from the get-go when the label "pink slime" was thrown around how this would turn out.

Seriously, the question we should be asking is "What did the producers of [pink slime] do to piss off some powerful politician, lobbyist, or media mogul?"
A follow up question "Where did the term "pink slime" come from, and why did all the media outlets pick up the story and the term?"

[DerailingDaTrain]

//

[Brian4Liberty]

^ I heard about pink slime before this. Someone sent me an email with pictures they claimed were a factory that was manufacturing McNuggets and they are the same pictures the media is showing.

Actually, that was called "Pink Goo". It's made a slightly different way, and it's Chicken.

[DerailingDaTrain]

Hmmm

It would appear you are correct. I retract my earlier statement.

[devil21]

It was pretty clear from the get-go when the label "pink slime" was thrown around how this would turn out.

Indeed that was my first thought. Would there be this outrage if it wasn't labeled with a name so obviously prejudicial as to guarantee the outcome to a largely research-averse population as the USA?



Seriously, the question we should be asking is "What did the producers of [pink slime] do to piss off some powerful politician, lobbyist, or media mogul?"
A follow up question "Where did the term "pink slime" come from, and why did all the media outlets pick up the story and the term?"

My bet is the anti-meat lobby was the originators of this. PETA, eg. They're well known for their propaganda tactics on things like this.

I just reviewed a can of cheap beef stew in my cupboard and it probably has this stuff in it. The ingredients list does say "beef" however and Im not convinced that this product doesn't qualify as "beef" in the most basic sense of the term. For $2 a can I know it's not filet mignon.

[jkob]

I don't see a problem with informing consumers of what they companies put in their food. If I had a choice, I'd pay more for a better product. Some people wouldn't and that's their right but they should know.

[heavenlyboy34]

I don't see a problem with informing consumers of what they companies put in their food. If I had a choice, I'd pay more for a better product. Some people wouldn't and that's their right but they should know.
Neither do I. The problem comes in when they are forced to do so.