I'm posting this story for anyone who thinks that all I do is wallow in negativity on this blog. If you'll recall, back on March 7th I posted about the use of so-called "pink slime," a horrifically nasty beef based food product, in U.S. school lunches. Well, proving yet again that you can get away with pretty much anything until you involve the kiddies, the resulting public outcry from that story has effectively killed the industry. Here is the Raw Story with the details:
Three factories that made so-called “pink slime” beef filler have shut down since public outcry about the ammonia-treated substance began last month, The Associated Press reported Monday.See, I can be positive on those rare occasions when good news happens. You're welcome.
Beef Products Inc. spokesman Craig Letch told AP that only one factory in the country, located in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, is still producing the stuff. Three others, in Texas, Iowa and Kansas, have reportedly been shut down.
The product, known as “lean, finely textured beef” to industry insiders, is comprised of connective tissue and other less-than-edible pieces of cows, which are mashed into a slimy, pink substance and treated with ammonia gas to kill off bacteria.
It is then added to ground beef as filler, to increase the product’s weight and, thereby, it’s price.
The goo was nicknamed “pink slime” by a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) scientists who blew the whistle once regulators in the Bush Sr. administration began allowing it in the human food supply. It was previously only considered suitable for products like dog food.
A public outcry over its use began after the U.S. government was revealed to have purchased tons of the stuff for use in school lunches. Soon thereafter, USDA whistleblowers alleged that “pink slime” had become so prevalent that it existed in up to 70 percent of ground beef sold in the U.S.
Since the outcry began, several major fast food chains have said they would no longer use the meat filler in their food products, and the USDA has lifted rules that required schools to use it.
Bonus: Speaking of Pink, "One of these days I'm going to cut you up into little pieces"
I wouldn't call it 'wallowing' - exactly; more like a brisk shower - followed by a blow to the head...
ReplyDeleteSorry to be negative here, but how can we be sure they are actually being shut down, rather than being "repurposed" or just euphemistically changing how it is discussed rather than actually stopping production? If profits are high, it doesn't seem like outcry would be enough to stop it.
ReplyDelete"When you're chewing on life's gristle,
ReplyDeleteDon't grumble, give a whistle!"
Always Look On The Bright Side of Life
Monty Python
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlBiLNN1NhQ
Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteSnopes said the pink slime chicken is an urban myth some time back. (I posted a comment about it on an earlier blog entry)
http://www.snopes.com/food/prepare/msm.asp
So how can non-existent pink slime chicken factories be shut down??? I'm calling porkie-pies on the Raw Story article here.
Now I've been reading your blog nearly daily for a good part of a year, but the level of critical thinking in its arguments has been starting to slide of late.
I say this with love, the lack of enlightenment in the world with its sheeple-like ill-thought opinions will not be defeated by opinions with the more of the same flaws -> Even if they are by the awake, informed "good guys" - who shoulder a *greater* responsibility to be clear in their thinking before articulating their piece.
Half-truths have no place when you tell-it-as-it-is about what's going on in the world.
The "Pink Slime" being referred to in the articles is a beef product, not chicken. The story has also been widely reported in numerous media sources (and even lampooned in the editorial cartoon above.
DeleteGranted, I don't trust the media as far as I can throw them, but this isn't just a one source story with nothing backing it up.