Pink Slime, Ammonium Hydroxide Fast Food Ground Beef Additive, Dropped By McDonald's Et Al.

McDonald's said this week that it was no longer using the controversial ground beef additive known as "pink slime" in its hamburger recipe. Taco Bell and Burger King have also reportedly repudiated the "slime," which consists of spare beef trimmings that have been treated with ammonium hydroxide to make them safe and at least semi-palatable.

The move came after "Food Revolution" and "Naked Chef" star Jamie Oliver made public calls for chains to abandon the "slime," which has been manufactured by Beef Products Inc since 2001. Some are pointing to his advocacy as a central factor behind McDonald's decision.

Even if Oliver was the most prominent critic of "pink slime," though, he wasn't alone. The New York Times raised serious doubts about "pink slime" in a 2009 investigation of the product. It was also criticized in the 2010 documentary "Food Inc."

Part of the criticism stems from a general sense of disgust. People don't like hearing that they're eating spare trimmings of beef from strange parts of a cow. Nor, for that matter, do people like to hear that they're eating ammonia.

The USDA, for its part, approved of the ammoniated beef trimmings. In 2007, when it mandated increased testing for most ground beef, it specifically exempted "pink slime," even though the ammoniated beef comes from the parts of the cow most likely to harbor pathogens. The USDA argued that the beef's ammonia treatment would kill any bacteria lingering in the beef.

And there's some evidence that the USDA wasn't wrong to call "pink slime" safe. Indeed, a Jan. 9 editorial in Food Safety News argued that the public backlash against pink slime had more to do with fear-mongering on the part of figures like Oliver than with any rational assessment of the product itself.

That said, the Times found evidence that linked Beef Products' ammoniated beef to dozens of cases of salmonella and E. coli, so there's at least a fighting chance that it's less safe than conventional beef. Moreover, using "pink slime" only cuts the price of ground beef by about three cents a pound. Aren't you willing to pay less than a penny more for your quarter-pounder to avoid gambling with your health?

Comments

[pooonshu]

10:05 PM on 09/05/2012

Anyone who is shocked and/or disturbed by this has clearly never read a single processed food label.

[Act Right Stupid]

08:28 PM on 03/26/2012

You know the saying about doing the right thing when no one is looking? Why is it that these self-promoting companies like McD's only do the right thing when their caught red handed? We all complain about big business, corporate control and yet we are the buyers we the people have the ability to bring these companies down and they know it, until we are required by law to buy certain product that the government mandates. Do you think big business would back that up?

[Charlie Wenger]

02:47 AM on 07/03/2012

"KILLING Cancer" Do you think big business would back that up?
And do the right thing when their caught red handed and they know it !!

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a minimally invasive treatment with great promise in malignant disease, age related macular degeneration and a host of other chronic disease processes. Although it represents an entirely new modality of treatment and is mostly unfamiliar to many established physicians, the potential benefits deserve careful consideration and study.caught red handed? We all complain about big business, corporate control and yet we are the buyers we the people have the ability to bring these companies down and they know it,
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/photodynamic
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3001867/?tool=pmcentrez
http://www.annieappleseedproject.org/pdtreview.html
http://www.killingcancer.co.uk/videos/jim.htm
http://www.killingcancer.co.uk/home.asp?pdt=Lung%20cancer
We the people have the ability to bring these companies down .Say No to Cancer companies;big business

[KyleSleet]

11:34 AM on 07/17/2012

It's true people would rather eat this "Pink Slime" than eat healthy? They turn around and complain about it as they're cooking it. I believe they should test a connection between todays common deadly diseases, once they find a connection between the two, society will be mentally forced to stop eating this.

[fredjernig]

09:56 AM on 12/31/2012

You don't make much sense. Companies constantly try to find stuff that works because they'd make a lot of money. They have absolutely no incentive to ignore promising techniques, quite the contrary.

Indeed, we must make sure that cancer therapy is patiently tested and proven to work, and not let companies rush to market useless treatments.

PDT will take off in the areas where it's proven to work. And it will be abandoned where it doesn't.

In this regard the system works rather well.

[Randy Dutton]

04:52 PM on 03/22/2012

I've been told our military is getting LFTB in their ground beef. But as a Supply Corps officer who fought against the veggie burgers that the Navy had imposed back in the 1980s, the veggie burgers tasted much worse.

[Randy Dutton]

04:47 PM on 03/22/2012

'Pink Slime' is a short story I wrote and published a couple weeks ago. It discusses much more of the issue than you see in the press. Available electronically from Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords, it is easily available and you can preview it. Just type in Pink Slime on any of those book sellers and it'll pop up. www.PinkSlime.us is another route.

[2012H AND K]

06:06 AM on 03/16/2012

An ABC News report reveals that the Under Secretary of Agriculture, Joann Smith, who approved the use of ammonia treated sludge in ground beef products as a substitute to counter skyrocketing costs of beef later received a high paying job in the beef industry.

[myviews]

10:59 AM on 03/07/2012

Congratulations Republican Congress! You have approved millions of dollars of PINK SLIME to be sold to children in US-Approved School lunches across the U.S.A.! What a terrific way to keep the poor kids from using their full brain and to get them to die early so Social Security won't have to pay for their longterm health. How brilliant! Of course the wealthy parents would not feed this PINK SLIME to their kids - but hey - someone has to dig ditches and do those tough jobs - may as well be the poor kids whose brains have been PINK SLIMED from ages 5 to 18. HoneyBadgerGOP's don't care. They don't give a PINK$LIME $hit!

[nacareally]

07:03 AM on 03/16/2012

This is not true. Congress approves the money for The U.S. Department of Agriculture. Congress has nothing to do with how they spend it. Also, after all the years it has been available, the Obama Administration is the only one to give this crap to the kids.

[purplefright]

06:00 PM on 03/16/2012

Think you owe me an apology Forest.

[Act Right Stupid]

08:10 PM on 03/26/2012

Why does everything have to be about politics, can't we stand together over something that can potentially kill our kids without bringing in the US and Them attitude. no wonder big business controls this country because they have everyone fighting each other. I didn't see any liberals being given the credit for breaking this big consevative conspiracy. No, instead it was a concerned individual from another country trying to help our kids who got shut down by everyone of us who would rather turn the other cheak and look the other way than face the truth.
You should all be discusted with yourselves!!!!!!!

[LogicalMathMan]

03:00 AM on 02/07/2012

NH3OH + HNO3 = NH3NO3 + H20 (all numbers are subscripts). Add a little nitric acid and we have Ammonium nitrate - what McVeigh used in OK)...I gotta stop tokin'.

[vcgraphics]

09:05 AM on 02/03/2012

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[Tazzie]

01:09 AM on 02/03/2012

Canada and the UK have regulations. Fast Foods chains have to comply. Those Fast Food Chains still make a huge profit. Questions?

[myviews]

11:00 AM on 03/07/2012

Exactly. Go to McDonald's in Germany (still a bad idea) and you will discover something nearly like real food. Different country. Different laws. They wouldn't feed pigs the food that American parents give their kids at U.S. McDonald's. Not this parent, however!

[Sherry Burrows]

12:42 AM on 02/03/2012

I ate my last ground beef during the mad cow scare what? Twenty years ago? The only way to guarantee that the food you're eating is to raise it yourself, slaughter and butcher it yourself, and grind it yourself. And few of us are capable of or have the equipment to do any of that. Any place in that supply chain that is outside of your control weird crap can be added. I have end-stage liver disease and was deathly ill because my body can no longer process animal protein. I stopped eating ALL meat and almost all other animal products, although I still consume a bit of dairy products in yogurt and cheese. And I made an almost miraculously recovery, literally overnight. I know most people can't get their heads around avoiding meat, but when you realize that your food is very literally poisoning you, you begin to think differently. And trust me, if you're eating at Mickey Dee's or just buying that garbage they sell at Wall-Mart that they call "ground beef" you most certainly ARE poisoning yourself.

[LogicalMathMan]

02:47 AM on 02/07/2012

Kudos on your recovery and your 'accidental' epiphany. Yes, it's amazing how very few people are dedicated to eating smart.

[AntagonisticallyYours]

12:31 PM on 03/06/2012

It's more convenient and cheaper to eat stupid.

[thejester39]

03:00 PM on 03/06/2012

Well, news flash for you buddy. Mankind has been "poisoning" themselves with meat since the day we, as a species, was created. Not to mention almost every other animal eats "meat", in some sense. Its understandable to not eat meat if you have health issues, but let me ask you this. Do you drink coffee? Wine? Do you smoke at all? Eat any candy? These can all be considered "poisoning" yourself. Fact is, many people live long and healthy lives while eating PLENTY of meat. It is a very fiber to our survival. To avoid it altogether is ultimately bad for you. Unless perhaps you take pharmaceutically created "pills" that make up for the lack of important nutrients that our bodies get from meat.

[DJ-Janos]

10:01 PM on 02/02/2012

It is all about supply and demand. If people buy it, they will make it.

I know times are tough, but lets go back to basics.. We do not need to eat 3 burgers per person. Consider this, for about $6.50 you can get a pound of organic, grass fed beef.. You can make 4 burgers and feed 4 people. One burger each, 2 organic tomatoes ($1.50), organic romaine lettuce ($2.00), 100% whole wheat buns ($2.25), organic wild rice ($3.75) and a veggie... for under $20 bucks, so roughly $5 per person.

People, in the long end buying cheap food is going to cost more, as it causes illnesses and disease... It is not natural to put chemicals in food or by products. Cows four stomachs are designed for chewing grass, not eating corn... It is not natural for 11 year old girls to go through puberty, it is due to all the growth hormones in foods.

Remember, you are what you eat... Forget the expensive cars, fancy clothing, nice house and all that other stuff. You should spend more money on food than anything else. You have one body, be careful what you put in it, you only have one... The good news is the human body is forgiving, if people stop eating all this cheap food and start replacing it all with good quality food, the body will heal itself.

[LogicalMathMan]

02:49 AM on 02/07/2012

I agree with your post except for the 'spend more money on food' part. One can eat healthy on about the same budget as one who does not.

[Professor 227]

09:19 PM on 02/02/2012

This is just one of a multitude of reasons why the FDA should be disbanded immediately! It is time for every member of the public to write or call representives,congressmen, and senators; Demand that the public agencies truely live up to the task of protecting the US taxpayer.ACT NOW!

[jshop]

10:34 PM on 02/02/2012

And what should it be replaced by? Surely you don't believe our food supply shouldn't be tested and food producers held accountable if they sell bad food?

[westsidegirl49]

07:33 PM on 02/02/2012

For some time, I was getting very troubling symtoms after eating meals prepared at home with ground beef from the supermarket. And that includes a market that says that it grinds its own beef. I stopped buying any ground beef because of this. Your article about Ammonium Hydroxide gives me a clue as to why this was happening to me. It isn't just the fast food companies that use this chemical. Even if you cook at home, you can be exposed to it. Bottom line.....this chemical should not be allowed in any food anywhere. And, thank you McDonald's for coming to your senses.

[DJ-Janos]

09:20 PM on 02/02/2012

this is why people should buy organic beef that comes from cows that are only fed grass... from birth to death... Fast food is still the worst, but it all makes sense.. How the hell can Mcdonalds make a burger for under a buck, pay its staff, pay its rent, pay its food costs, etc... and still make a profit? they need to use the worst meat and add tons of fillers to make it cheap and turn a profit. My guess is that a burger at Mcdonald's, including bun is probably 15 cents..

[LogicalMathMan]

02:51 AM on 02/07/2012

One man's food is another man's poison, I guess.

[lynneeeepooh]

02:19 PM on 03/06/2012

Which is what they charged back in 1964.

[westsidegirl49]

11:23 PM on 02/02/2012

In rseponse to DJ - I agree with you about organic and grass fed beef being the better choice. However, I have used ground organic and grass fed beef and reacted to it. - not every time but some of the time. The problem is in the processing once the cow leaves the field. Ammonium Hydroxide seems to be pervasive in processing plants. If you can't vouch for the the standards of the plant processing your organic/grass fed beef, you may not be getting the high quality product that you think you are. All chemicals added to our food in any amount should be disclosed.

[James JJ Carter]

04:45 PM on 02/03/2012

I am a chef and I've never heard of ammonium hydroxide being used in the processing of truly organic meats. That would be antithetical to the point of having organic meat in the first place. The chemical is used on the dirtiest parts of factory-farm beef (including cuts which have fallen on the floor), animals which have been fed corn and therefore have a much higher content of e.coli in their systems. Eating grass reduces the amount of e.coli in a cow's system by a huge percentage. Unless you find out for a first-hand fact that there are chemicals being used on the so-called 'organic' beef you ate (btw 'angus' is not 'organic'), I wouldn't make it the first assumption.

[geomaes]

06:50 PM on 02/02/2012

"Pink Slime"? - Ammonia is no worse than the "exotic parts" of animals sneaked into the mix, or the metal Nitrates and Nitrites added to most processed meats and meat products. But, could baseball survive without hot dogs at the game?

[James JJ Carter]

04:53 PM on 02/03/2012

Yeah, but we're not talking about hot dogs here. Most folks know hot dogs are the least-pure meat you are likely to find in an average store and you can see the carcinogens on the label, but hamburgers are generally advertised as 'real meat'. Ammonia is a cheap way to allow factory farms to have dirty meat and still feed it to people, and it IS worse for you than any organ which can be edible after proper cleaning-- even kidneys and intestines can be eaten without being treated with chemicals. I don't see lowering standards as a solution to public health concerns.

[NC10T]

06:19 PM on 02/02/2012

"SOYLENT GREEN IS MADE OF PEOPLE!!"