Over the past few weeks I've been seeing the words "pink slime" saturating my Twitter feed. I knew it had something to do with a meat filler and school lunches but didn't have a chance to pry further. Well, curiosity has finally gotten the best of me. Pink slime sounds like something that's be dumped on contestants during a Nickelodeon game show; it's definitely not something I'd want to eat or even consider food. So what's the deal with this mystery meat?
Here's what I think of when I picture pink slime: Pink getting slimmed on Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards!
Here's the exact description of pink slime that I found on CBS News:
"It's actually "lean finely textured beef," a low-cost ingredient in ground beef made from fatty left over meat trimmings from other cuts. The bits are heated to about 100 F and spun to remove most of the fat, then compressed into blocks for use in ground meat. The product, made by South Dakota-based Beef Products Inc. (BPI), is then exposed to "a puff of ammonium hydroxide gas" to kill bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella."
Um ew... and this stuff has been on the market for years and the FDA actually approves it as safe. My question is: have the FDA people actually tried this stuff AND are they okay with their children consuming it during school lunch periods? It's disgusting when "food" need to fit specific criteria to actually be considered food! Food should be food.
This is what gets me: McDonald's--- the king of fast food--- doesn't even use the "pink slime" filler but FDA is still approving it as school lunch appropriate... I mean, come on, that alone should scream something.
I'm slightly biased because meat these days gives me the heebie jeebies but what does everyone think? Is this stuff really unsafe or is it just the aesthetics that are freaking people out?
Here's what I think of when I picture pink slime: Pink getting slimmed on Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards!
Here's the exact description of pink slime that I found on CBS News:
"It's actually "lean finely textured beef," a low-cost ingredient in ground beef made from fatty left over meat trimmings from other cuts. The bits are heated to about 100 F and spun to remove most of the fat, then compressed into blocks for use in ground meat. The product, made by South Dakota-based Beef Products Inc. (BPI), is then exposed to "a puff of ammonium hydroxide gas" to kill bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella."
Want a visual?
Here's the pink slime used as a chicken filler (think chicken nuggets):
Here's the pink slime used as a chicken filler (think chicken nuggets):
... and here's the pink slime used as a meat filler (think hamburgers):
Um ew... and this stuff has been on the market for years and the FDA actually approves it as safe. My question is: have the FDA people actually tried this stuff AND are they okay with their children consuming it during school lunch periods? It's disgusting when "food" need to fit specific criteria to actually be considered food! Food should be food.
This is what gets me: McDonald's--- the king of fast food--- doesn't even use the "pink slime" filler but FDA is still approving it as school lunch appropriate... I mean, come on, that alone should scream something.
I'm slightly biased because meat these days gives me the heebie jeebies but what does everyone think? Is this stuff really unsafe or is it just the aesthetics that are freaking people out?
