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What ABC called "pink slime," USDA now says can be labeled "ground beef"

newfoodeconomy.org

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Re: What ABC called "pink slime," USDA now says can be labeled "ground beef"

#21

Post by Pharmakon »

StillBored wrote: post #18

Are these articles a bit misleading about the "trimmings"? My understanding is that a large part of the controversy is because its not little pieces of "meat" its basically the garbage, tendons, pieces of skin, bits of bone, etc. Sure some of it has meat attached, but the difficulty separating the meat bits from the rest is what requires the intensive liquefaction process. The fact that it happens to liquefy some of…

Generally speaking when everything has been taken off the carcass, including parts used for animal feed, the remains are blasted by high pressure water. The resulting tissue, much of it membranes and other fascia are then collected and processed. It is as you say, not really meat, it’s mostly a collagen slurry. In the cases of turkey and chicken the term used is “mechanically separated.” You can find that term on any Slim-Jim.

Re: What ABC called "pink slime," USDA now says can be labeled "ground beef"

#22

Post by jeffdavis »

PakG1 wrote: post #7
tptacek wrote: post #3

Why is this supposed to upset me? If we're going to keep eating animals (and that sure is my plan), we shouldn't give ourselves the luxury of getting squicked out over using the whole animal. If you're picky about what's in your ground beef, find a butcher you trust, or grind your own.

I guess people are worried about uneducated and poor who don't or can't think about the difference. For example, where fast food chains previously might be unhealthy but still OK, this might tip the scales closer towards not OK. If you're knowledgeable enough to make an informed decision and also can afford to take the time to grind your own meat, people probably aren't worried about you.

What are the bad consequences of this "pink slime"? Is it worse for you than a ribeye steak?

What makes it not OK?

Re: What ABC called "pink slime," USDA now says can be labeled "ground beef"

#24

Post by josho »

tptacek wrote: post #3

Why is this supposed to upset me? If we're going to keep eating animals (and that sure is my plan), we shouldn't give ourselves the luxury of getting squicked out over using the whole animal. If you're picky about what's in your ground beef, find a butcher you trust, or grind your own.

> find a butcher you trust, or grind your own.

Or you could not allow meat scraps to be called ground beef and trust all ground beef that you buy.

For context this meat wasn’t waste it was used for other products. But by allowing it to be called ground beef it is now more valuable.

Re: What ABC called "pink slime," USDA now says can be labeled "ground beef"

#25

Post by sp332 »

Pharmakon wrote: post #19
tptacek wrote: post #3

Why is this supposed to upset me? If we're going to keep eating animals (and that sure is my plan), we shouldn't give ourselves the luxury of getting squicked out over using the whole animal. If you're picky about what's in your ground beef, find a butcher you trust, or grind your own.

If you're picky about what's in your ground beef, find a butcher you trust, or grind your own. A lot of people lack the education to know that many more lack the time, energy and money to make it work. I guess the answer why this should upset you is that it shouldn’t, unless you’re troubled by empathy as many of us are.

It's still beef though. If I'm getting a burger at a McDonald's or something, this is fine.

Re: What ABC called "pink slime," USDA now says can be labeled "ground beef"

#26

Post by Pharmakon »

jeffdavis wrote: post #22
PakG1 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess people are worried about uneducated and poor who don't or can't think about the difference. For example, where fast food chains previously might be unhealthy but still OK, this might tip the scales closer towards not OK. If you're knowledgeable enough to make an informed decision and also can afford to take the time to grind your own meat, people probably aren't worried about you.

What are the bad consequences of this "pink slime"? Is it worse for you than a ribeye steak? What makes it not OK?

It is much higher in fat, and much lower in protein than meat. It also contains pulverized bone, nerve tissue and more.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanically_separated_meat

This puree includes bone, bone marrow, skin, nerves, blood vessels, and the scraps of meat remaining on the bones. The resulting product is a blend primarily consisting of tissues not generally considered meat along with a much smaller amount of actual meat (muscle tissue).

Of course the final product depends on how it’s processed. A lot of the time the stuff is centrifuged to remove fat, in which case it’s used as filler. If you’ve ever eaten a cheap chicken nugget and tasted something off, that’s what it is. So nutrition aside it’s disgusting, and is generally only found in heavily processed foods with a ton of salt and sugar in them; nothing less will make it palatable.

You’re never going to find the stuff in any food that isn’t terrible for you. If you have concerns about prion diseases like BSE then it’s also a concern, since the processing is unlikely to destroy prions.

Re: What ABC called "pink slime," USDA now says can be labeled "ground beef"

#27

Post by wheels »

tptacek wrote: post #3

Why is this supposed to upset me? If we're going to keep eating animals (and that sure is my plan), we shouldn't give ourselves the luxury of getting squicked out over using the whole animal. If you're picky about what's in your ground beef, find a butcher you trust, or grind your own.

It's totally reasonable to eat meat and still have qualms about its labeling. This is about processed meat being sold as ground beef. I eat both processed meat and ground beef, but they're not the same thing and don't have the same culinary or nutritional value. (Though, you're right that the "slime" label is obnoxious -- at least for anyone who eats, say, hot dogs or bologna.)

Re: What ABC called "pink slime," USDA now says can be labeled "ground beef"

#28

Post by Symbiote »

jeffdavis wrote: post #23
hskaw wrote: post #17

Pink slime is banned from human consumption in the European Union.

Why? Sincere question. Is it unhealthy or not nutritious?

I'm not sure why the EU bans it, but Canada bans it because of the ammonia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_slime (see some of the references)

Re: What ABC called "pink slime," USDA now says can be labeled "ground beef"

#29

Post by Pharmakon »

sp332 wrote: post #25
Pharmakon wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're picky about what's in your ground beef, find a butcher you trust, or grind your own. A lot of people lack the education to know that many more lack the time, energy and money to make it work. I guess the answer why this should upset you is that it shouldn’t, unless you’re troubled by empathy as many of us are.

It's still beef though. If I'm getting a burger at a McDonald's or something, this is fine.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanically_separated_meat#...

Concerns were raised again when the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) epidemic, commonly known as "mad cow disease", occurred in the United Kingdom in 1986. Since bits of the spinal cord (the part most likely to be carrying the BSE prion)[4][5] often got mixed in with the rest of the meat, products using mechanically separated meat taken from the carcasses of bovines were at higher risk for transmitting BSE to humans.

Given how resilient prions are I’d be pretty damned wary of eating purées of nerve tissue.

Re: What ABC called "pink slime," USDA now says can be labeled "ground beef"

#30

Post by uiri »

tptacek wrote: post #3

Why is this supposed to upset me? If we're going to keep eating animals (and that sure is my plan), we shouldn't give ourselves the luxury of getting squicked out over using the whole animal. If you're picky about what's in your ground beef, find a butcher you trust, or grind your own.

I'm mostly concerned about the ammonia used during the process. The ammonia is used to kill off germs due to contamination. Maybe we should just throw away contaminated animal by-product.
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