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| technorati.com |
McDonald’s, Taco Bell and other fast food chains have
stopped using what’s been called “pink slime” in hamburgers and other products.
“According to TheDaily.com, the term “pink slime” was coined
by microbiologist Gerald Zirnstein, formerly of the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service” (Yahoo). Zirnstein first saw
it being mixed into meats used in burgers when he visited a Beef Products Inc
(BPI) facility back in 2002 after an epidemic of salmonella.
“Lean Beef Trimmings” is the official name of pink slime and
is banned for human consumption in UK. It is generally used in chicken and dog
food. McDonald’s stopped using these fillers in beef patties after celebrity
chef and safe food advocate Jamie Oliver featured the substance in his show
“Jamie Oliver Food Revolution” and called for its ban on April 12, 2011.
Ammonium Hydroxide is used to wash the beef trimmings in
order to kill pathogens like E.coli. The FDA considered this safe for humans to
eat but a “2009 expose by the New York Times questioned its safety and
efficiency”. Many food advocates required for meat to be labeled if they
contain “pink slime.” The USDA allows companies not to put Ammonium Hydroxide
on labels because they say that ammonia is a process not part of the
ingredients.
“Pink slime” is used in about 70% of ground beef in the U.S
and is allowed in any school in America by the USDA. “We don’t know which districts
are receiving what meat, and this meat isn’t labeled to show pink slime. They
don’t have to under federal law,” Bettina Siegal, a writer and a mother of two
who created TheLunchTray.com told NBC.
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