By JAMES EIK
Staff Reporter
Over the last week or two, the media has slowly been circulating the story of “pink slime,” the controversial filler meat used in beef products.
This “pink slime,” is the unused parts of beef typically thrown away during the processing cycle. It has little nutritional value and is prone to diseases like E. coli and salmonella, but don't worry, there's a special process to help reduce the risk of infected meat.
One company under the radar, Beef Products Inc., creates the product by placing it in a centrifuge and spinning it at high speeds until the unused meat has separated from the bone and fat. It's then soaked in an ammonia solution, rinsed and placed into regular ground beef products that can then end up in the grocery store or in schools.
Yes, in our schools.
This year, the United States Department of Agriculture purchased 7 million pounds of the product to go out through its national school lunch program. In addition to endorsing the product for some years now, the USDA allowed 6.5 percent of all beef in the national school lunch program to come from the company.
The tests for E. coli and salmonella coming from this form of so-called meat have been noticeably higher than those coming from other companies. Beef Products, however, says its testing process is more rigorous than others.
Outrage over the filler product swelled enough to convince McDonald's, Burger King and Taco Bell to halt their use of it last month. There isn't any requirement to label packages containing the product, and packages can contain up to 15 percent of the filler material. It's estimated that nearly 70 percent of all ground beef sold in the country contains some of the “pink slime.”
Three years ago, another form of “pink slime” caught fire in the media. Back then, it was mechanically-separated chicken, which was processed in a similar manner. That chicken, containing the eyes, guts, bones and skin, was used as filler in chicken patties and nuggets sold by some companies.
To top it all off, as I wrote a few weeks ago, school officials in North Carolina were turning home-packed lunches away because they didn't meet USDA nutritional guidelines, providing the pre-Kindergarten students with chicken nuggets. The cause for alarm? A salami and cheese sandwich on a wheat bun, with apple juice. Apparently that's toxic, compared to ammonia-rinsed Lean Beef Trimmings that would otherwise end up in the discard bin. I might be wrong, but something doesn't seem right about that.
Science has led to some great advances and innovations for our society. Many of the developments over the last 10 years have enriched our lives. Just look at the iPad, the growth of the Internet, cellphones and the Snuggie.
When science touches our food, however, it's still enough to raise an eyebrow.
Now, I'm no organics advocate, calling for foods to be grown in a remote area of the country, hand-touched by those who have sworn an oath not to do harm to the planet. But just read down the list of ingredients on what should be a simple can of vegetables the next time you're at the supermarket.
It's pretty scary.
Perhaps it's time to start taking a second look at what we're buying at the store. Even though budgets are tighter, it's still worth buying a item that costs slightly more, rather than its questionable cheaper counterpart.
Because now, for the first time in recent history, it's probably safer to eat at McDonald's than it is to eat at school. The Mayans may have been right about this whole apocalypse thing after all.
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