'Pink Slime' Found in Most Grocery Ground Beef

[Mark]

'Pink Slime' Found in Most Grocery Ground Beef

Does the American public really know what's inside the ground beef they're eating? A new report claims much of that meat is filled with what's being called "pink slime."

Several popular fast food chains have agreed to using the filler. But what about the beef at your local grocery store?

According to new reports, the chemically-enhanced filler wasn't only used in fast food burgers, it's in 70 percent of the ground beef Americans purchase at the supermarket.

"It is economic fraud. It's not fresh ground beef. It is a substitute," said Gerald Zirnstein, a former U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist.

Zirnstein said he and his colleague, retired USDA microbiologist Carl Custer, warned against using the beef substitute, but their boss overruled their protests.

The beef industry calls pink slime "lean finely textured beef." However, it's really waste that butchers reject, like connective tissue and excess fat.

These trimmings were once only used in cooking oil and dog food.

Now the waste is collected, treated, and then sprayed with ammonia to kill any bacteria. Then it's added to ground beef as a cheap filler.

But don't go to the grocery store looking to find pink slime on any food labels. USDA officials allow the beef industry to label it as meat, according to Custer.

"The undersecretary said, 'It's pink; therefore, it's meat,'" Custer noted.

The person who approved the mix was former Undersecretary of Agriculture Joann Smith. After stepping down from the USDA, she was appointed to the board of directors of Beef Products, Inc. who makes the beef filler.

She's made more than $1 million while serving on the board over the past 17 years.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2012/March/Pink-Slime-Waste-Added-to-Grocery-Hamburger-Meat-/?utm

[Mark]

'Pink slime' panic grows online: Are we overreacting?
By Jane Weaver, Deputy health editor

Updated March 9: An online petition urging the government to stop the use of "pink slime" -- the scrape and waste meat products that are treated with ammonium-hydroxide -- in school food has collected almost 20,000 signatures over the last several days.

After reports that school districts around the country were serving kids hamburgers containing up to 15 percent of the processed product known in the meat industry as "Lean Finely Textured Beef', parents and consumers poured online to express their disgust. As of Friday afternoon "pink slime" became the most searched phrase on Google Trends and Twitter users were expressing their disgust on #pinkslime.

rest: http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/08/10611274-pink-slime-panic-grows-online-are-we-overreacting

[tennis shoe]

I honestly don’t know what I’m looking at in the grocery store anymore. It APPEARS to be food, but what is it really? Cooking oil=soy=GM. Produce=GM? I’ve had store-bought bananas that never ripened, but turned black—garden vegetables that taste completely different than the store produce—like noticing the true flavor for the first time. Meat? Is it meat? How come I can eat two sloppy joes made with store ground beef and have room for dessert but I can’t seem to finish a sandwich made with game meat because I’m full?

Crack open a store-bought egg and compare it to a locally-produced egg and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Meanwhile, everybody is constantly tired. Energy drinks didn’t exist in the 80’s and most of the 90’s. Now everybody’s drinking the super-caffeinated stuff just to function and sales are good. Soda with HFCS,aspartame, and as yet to be disclosed ingredients flies off the shelves in abundance as some people use it as a water substitute. Why should I have to BUY bottled water?!?!?

HFCS in everything, including bread. MSG renamed 1001 ways. Remember the reports on bacteriophage in lunchmeats? What else has been added to my “food” that’s not required to be on the label?

Is it really a good idea to irradiate everything before it hits the shelf for “safety” reasons?

What about microwavable meals? They’ve gotten so bad now that I’d rather have a bacteriophage sandwich.

What is it?                      What is it?                    What is it?

Saying grace at the table has taken on a far deeper meaning these days.

[Mark]

I honestly don’t know what I’m looking at in the grocery store anymore. It APPEARS to be food, but what is it really? Cooking oil=soy=GM. Produce=GM? I’ve had store-bought bananas that never ripened, but turned black—garden vegetables that taste completely different than the store produce—like noticing the true flavor for the first time. Meat? Is it meat? How come I can eat two sloppy joes made with store ground beef and have room for dessert but I can’t seem to finish a sandwich made with game meat because I’m full?

Crack open a store-bought egg and compare it to a locally-produced egg and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Meanwhile, everybody is constantly tired. Energy drinks didn’t exist in the 80’s and most of the 90’s. Now everybody’s drinking the super-caffeinated stuff just to function and sales are good. Soda with HFCS,aspartame, and as yet to be disclosed ingredients flies off the shelves in abundance as some people use it as a water substitute. Why should I have to BUY bottled water?!?!?

HFCS in everything, including bread. MSG renamed 1001 ways. Remember the reports on bacteriophage in lunchmeats? What else has been added to my “food” that’s not required to be on the label?

Is it really a good idea to irradiate everything before it hits the shelf for “safety” reasons?

What about microwavable meals? They’ve gotten so bad now that I’d rather have a bacteriophage sandwich.

What is it?                      What is it?                    What is it?

Saying grace at the table has taken on a far deeper meaning these days.

I agree they are trying to kill us with the food we are eating. Just read through the Monsanto section.

Mar 16:17   And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 
Mar 16:18   They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 

[Psalm 51:17]

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/red-meat-blamed-for-one-in-10-early-deaths/

March 13, 2012 – WORLD  – Small quantities of processed meat such as bacon, sausages or salami can increase the likelihood of dying early by a fifth, researchers from Harvard School of Medicine found. Eating steak increases the risk of early death by 12%. The study found that cutting the amount of red meat in peoples’ diets to 1.5 ounces (42 grams) a day, equivalent to one large steak a week, could prevent almost one in 10 early deaths in men and one in 13 in women. The scientists said that the government’s current advice that people should eat no more than 2.5 ounces (70 grams) a day, around the level the average Briton already consumes, was “generous.” Dr Frank Hu, co-author of the study, said: “Given the growing evidence that even modest amounts of red meat is associated with increased risk of chronic disease and premature death, 2.5 ounces (70 grams) per day seems generous. The bottom line is that we should make red meat only an occasional rather than regular part of our diet.” Red meat often contains high amounts of saturated fat, while bacon and salami contain large amounts of salt. Replacing red meat with poultry, fish or vegetables, whole grains and other healthy foods cut the risk of dying by up to one fifth, the study found. –Telegraph

[Kilika]

The person who approved the mix was former Undersecretary of Agriculture Joann Smith. After stepping down from the USDA, she was appointed to the board of directors of Beef Products, Inc. who makes the beef filler.

She's made more than $1 million while serving on the board over the past 17 years.

And this woman is not in jail why? The same reason all the other politicians aren't that jump to "the private sector" after getting bills into laws that are friendly to their new private sector bosses. All the ones that last in Washington do it. Look at Cheney and Rumsfeld to name just two of dozens and dozens that have used their government position for personal benefit. Watch what happens to Geithner when he leaves office, which I suspect will be right back to his banker buddies at the Fed, or one of the top banks, who he has been very friendly to during his term.

"Pink Slime"? Whatever. Typical federal rules on labeling and such. It's not what it appears, as usual. Just take a look into what the rules are for definitions of the various words used on labels, such as "low fat", etc. It's crazy deceptive to what the manufacturers present, or are allowed to say in advertising.

I've worked professionally as a cook, so I'm familiar with food, and I can tell you that beef is beef, regardless of the part it is. So, to say that stuff is ground up parts that we "traditionally" don't eat is kinda silly. Those same people better not ask what is in a classic hotdog!

"Parts is parts" is true. I think it's smart of them to use that stuff that way, BUT, the real problem is with them using it to boost the weight of the overall package weight, making it appear there is more actual meat product than there really is. That added stuff cooks WAY down, as it's high in fat, so you end up with not much left. THAT is a problem because what they presented as meat product is cooking away before it hits the plate.

It's suppose to be that the leaner the meat, the less fat content there is, thus the less the meat will shrink up during cooking. I'm not sure why people even bother with anything less than like 90% lean, as the lower than that really shrinks up, which means your not getting as much meat product, but instead the weight price is full of fat and water content. You want to pay $2.99/lbs for water and grease? I don't. If a person knows how to cook, they can add their own fat and water as needed for far less cost, and it's to the taste so it's just right. I know, the wife and I both are cooks and have done it for years. So go for the leaner meats and season as needed. Tenderizing meat is easy and washes and marinades are cheap to make.

So yes, in the end, they are ripping off the customers, again.

People need to get out of the grocery stores prepared meals sections and fast food places and learn how to actually cook the basics.

[Mark]

'Pink slime' maker suspends some plant operations; Ammonia-treated beef nixed from NYC schools, supermarkets
Ammonia-treated filler is known in the industry as 'lean, finely textured beef'


The company that makes "pink slime" suspended operations Monday at three of four plants where the beef ingredient is made, saying officials would work to address recent public concern about the product.

Beef Products Inc. will suspend operations at plants in Amarillo, Texas; Garden City, Kan.; and Waterloo, Iowa, according to Craig Letch, the company's director of food safety and quality assurance. The company's plant at its Dakota Dunes, S.D., headquarters will continue operations.

"We feel like when people can start to understand the truth and reality then our business will come back," Letch said. "It's 100 percent beef."

Federal regulators say the ammonia-treated filler, known in the industry as "lean, finely textured beef," meets food safety standards. But critics say the product could be unsafe and is an unappetizing example of industrialized food production.

The low-cost ingredient is made from fatty bits of meat left over from other cuts. The bits are heated and spun to remove most of the fat. The lean mix then is compressed into blocks for use in ground meat. The product is exposed to ammonium hydroxide gas to kill bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella.

The result is a product that is as much as 97 percent lean beef, Letch said.

The product has been used for years, but it wasn't until earlier this month that social media suddenly exploded with worry and an online petition seeking its ouster from schools garnered hundreds of thousands of supporters. The U.S. Department of Agriculture decided to allow school districts to stop using it and some retail chains have pulled products containing it from their shelves.

About 200 employees at each of the three plants will get full salary and benefits for 60 days during the suspension, Letch said. The plant in Amarillo produced about 200,000 pounds a day, while the Kansas and Iowa plants each produced about 350,000 pounds a day.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/pink-slime-maker-suspends-plant-operations-ammonia-treated-beef-nixed-nyc-schools-supermarkets-article-1.1051323#ixzz1qKFBNUYf

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2012/05/layoffs-show-pink-slime-maker-just-cant-get-past-name/52327/

Layoffs Show 'Pink Slime' Maker Just Can't Get Past the Name

5/14/12

One manufacturer of the beef byproduct that's been dubbed "pink slime" said on Monday it was laying off 86 employees, the start of a planned 650-person layoffs after demand bottomed out as customers decided they just couldn't stomach the "finely textured beef."
 
According to The Associated Press' Grant Schulte Beef Products Inc. says it's the victim of a "campaign of misinformation." While we're not going to go so far as to support that characterization of the unfortunate name their product has garnered (it is pink and slimy, after all), it's pretty clear the stomach-turning buzz has done some damage to companies in an otherwise decent beef market.
 
BPI said last week it would close three plants and lay off 650 workers, the first of which it let go on Monday. Another supplier of what manufacturers call "lean finely textured beef," AFA Foods, filed for bankruptcy in early April. And as MSNBC.com's Bill Briggs reports, the beef industry is actually doing pretty well aside from the unappetizing figures form makers of the unfortunate alias: "Cattle prices in the first quarter were up 20 percent over year-earlier levels, according to the Agriculture Department, as strong overseas demand has more than offset a steady decline in U.S. consumption."
 
But not for the boneless beef trimmings additive whose popular name, Phillip Boffey wrote in The New York Times Sunday, was "coined in 2002 in an internal e-mail by the scientist at the Agriculture Department who felt it was not really ground beef." The term actually first appeared in The Times in a 2009 story on beef safety. It's such a catchy term, and the idea of ground up cow bits disinfected by ammonia is just so gross, that there's probably no coming back from the unfortunate branding. However BPI's going to keep making a little of the additive, "and says it hopes to restore public confidence," Boffey says. Most likely that will mean a long campaign to change the popular name from the one we already know.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2012/05/layoffs-show-pink-slime-maker-just-cant-get-past-name/52327/

[Psalm 51:17]

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/8220-pink-slime-8221-rejected-most-nation-8217-173400056.html

“Pink Slime” Rejected by Most of Nation’s Schools

By Sarah B. Weir, Yahoo! blogger | Healthy Living – 6 hours ago

All but three states have opted out of ordering the controversial beef product famously dubbed "pink slime" for their school lunch programs says the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Iowa, South Dakota, and Nebraska will continue to buy ground beef with added lean finely textured beef (LFTB), ammonia-treated scraps that are used as filler.

The term “pink slime” was coined by former USDA scientist Gerald Zirnstein and used in a 2009 interview by the New York Times on the safety of beef processing. In 2011, the product was featured on a segment of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.

The widespread use of LFTB really caught the public's attention in March 2012, when food columnist and mother Bettina Siegel launched a petition to ban it from the National School Lunch Program. Within a few days, it received over a 250,000 signatures. “When I launched the petition, I could never have foreseen that it would go viral and garner over a quarter of a million signatures,” Siegel tells Shine. “But I suspect that petition signers weren't just supporting my relatively narrow request relating to school food. I think they were voicing a larger concern about the lack of transparency in our food supply and the coziness between the beef industry and the USDA on this issue.” 

While the USDA says the product is safe to eat, many consumers were surprised (and grossed out) to learn that much of the ground beef they had been purchasing for decades contained "pink slime." LFTB doesn't have to be labeled and it is estimated that it can be found in 70% of conventional ground beef (it has never been allowed in organic meat). Due to public outcry, the USDA agreed to let schools opt out and many supermarket and fast food chains including McDonald's and Taco Bell also discontinued selling meat with the filler.
 
more

[Mark]

[Psalm 51:17]

‘Pink slime’ oozes back into school lunches in four states
9/11/13
http://news.yahoo.com/pink-slime-oozes-back-school-lunches-four-states-133207266.html

Now, four populous states — Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Texas — have once again ordered ground beef that could contain pink slime ammonia-treated lean finely textured beef, reports the New York Daily News.

After the 2012 dust-up, school districts in only three states — Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota — continued to purchase the product.

As of early September, those three states and the four additional states had contracted to buy about two million pounds of ground beef that could contain the controversial beef additive from a meat processing corporation with the alarmingly generic name Beef Products, Inc

“We are confident that these states and school districts will enjoy both quality and cost improvements. This will ultimately enable them to provide more nutritious lean beef to their children,” said Craig Letch, the director of food safety and quality assurance at Beef Products, Inc., according to the Daily News.

“Pink slime” is a beef filler made of meat byproducts after those byproducts have been spun in a centrifuge and exposed to ammonia to kill germs. (Other companies use the same basic process but treat the processed meat stuff with citric acid instead of ammonia.)

In 2012, Beef Products, Inc. sold seven million pounds of lean finely textured beef to the National School Lunch Program. The stuff was also present in over two-thirds of all ground beef in supermarkets.

After a March 2012 exposé by ABC News raised a glut of consumer concerns, several grocery store chains — and McDonald’s — dropped beef containing the product. The USDA began permitting school districts to choose to purchase pink slime-free ground beef only.

Beef Products, Inc. has sued ABC for $1.2 billion for defamation. Other defendants in the suit include the former USDA employee who came up with the term “pink slime” as well as someone who worked for the company as a quality assurance manager.

The Daily News caught up with Bettina Siegel, a food blogger (and mom) from Texas who crusaded against ground beef containing lean finely textured beef.

“Unlike regular consumers, school kids have no market power or voice,” Siegel told the broadsheet. “They’re economically dependent on the school meal and basically have no choice but to eat what’s served to them.”

[Kilika]

No, kids aren't forced to eat the schools food. Most parents make it so that the child pretty much has no choice because the parents rely on the state to care for the child. They won't be bothered with actually feeding their kid by "packing a lunch" for them, which actually would help the school district in reducing costs by lowering the number of meals they prepare and the staff to prepare it.

People keep complaining about these school districts, yet the parents continue to send their kids there. What was it that one of their own, Einstein, said about repeating actions while expecting different results?