McDonalds to end using Pink Slime in burgers

[mynameisben]

If you or your kids eat at McDonalds, you'll be happy to know the corporate junk food giant has decided they will no longer use Pink Slime as an additive to their ground beef patties. What is Pink Slime, you may be wondering? Pink Slime is what you get when you wash the lowest imaginable grade of slaughterhouse beef scraps in a solution of Ammonium Hydroxide to kill off deadly bacteria and "sort of" make it fit for human consumption.

Are you lovin' it now?

Details and a pretty good news video clip may be found here.

 

[sr71plt]

So they're replacing it with something that isn't fit for human consumption?

 

[mynameisben]

So they're replacing it with something that isn't fit for human consumption?

McDonalds public relations people are only "saying" they will no longer be adding Pink Slime to their ground beef. Whether they make good on that claim is a whole other matter. McDonalds is responding to a wave of negative publicity, not to any government mandate or law, so nobody's going to check them for honesty. U.S. Lawmakers are far too busy drafting laws that pad their personal fortunes. They can't squander their elected office time pushing for laws to protect the health of that class of people who can afford to eat out only at McDonalds.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Although "pink slime" sounds gross, and I would bet McDonalds has never used the name, Ammonia is a common food additive. http://www.foodinsight.org/Resource...out_Ammonium_Hydroxide_Use_in_Food_Production

In other words, it sounds worse than it actually is.

 

[sr71plt]

They can't squander their elected office time pushing for laws to protect the health of that class of people who can afford to eat out only at McDonalds.

We have folks posting here (and conservative politicians) who don't think the government should be providing protections against this sort of thing at all.

You truly can't please all of the people all of the time. And you also usually get what you ask for.

Incidentally, have you reviewed recently what goes into sausage?

 

[mynameisben]

We have folks posting here (and conservative politicians) who don't think the government should be providing protections against this sort of thing at all.

You truly can't please all of the people all of the time. And you also usually get what you ask for.

Incidentally, have you reviewed recently what goes into sausage?

I know damn well conservative politicians are disinterested in providing protections against this sort of thing. They live in a different world. Conservative politicians don't even consider McDonalds clientele to be human.

I'm not up on the gunk they pack into sausages, but I imagine that's not a pretty picture either. I'm just thankful I don't eat it.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Do you know what Chlorine is? It is a gaseous element that is so caustic it will literally burn out your lungs if you breathe it in. Chlorine is the active ingredient in mustard gas. Do know what Sodium is? It's a silvery metallic element that has such an affinity for water it will burn a hole right through your hand if you pick it up, and will burst into flame if it comes in contact with most liquids. Are you aware the most common food additive is a compound of these two ferocious elements?

 

[sr71plt]

OK, I'll step out and go write something and let you and our resident regressives duke it out over pink slime then.

 

[Boxlicker101]

OK, I'll step out and go write something and let you and our resident regressives duke it out over pink slime then.

That's a good idea. I'll go and get busy too, so I can finish my Valentine's Day entries and piss off Scouries.

 

[mynameisben]

Do you know what Chlorine is? It is a gaseous element that is so caustic it will literally burn out your lungs if you breathe it in. Chlorine is the active ingredient in mustard gas. Do know what Sodium is? It's a silvery metallic element that has such an affinity for water it will burn a hole right through your hand if you pick it up, and will burst into flame if it comes in contact with most liquids. Are you aware the most common food additive is a compound of these two ferocious elements?

That's specious reasoning, Box. Any B- high school chemistry student knows that the ionically bonded NaCl (common table salt) has chemical properties that are radically different from it's component elements. Chloride ion is NOT chlorine gas. Sodium ion is NOT the same as Sodium, either. It's also fairly evident that people don't "literally burn out their lungs" every time they put a dash of salt on their food.

 

[lance gt]

At least they weren't lying when they said it was 100% pure beef. Just didn't say what grade of beef it was. Indegestion and malnutrition in the same bite, loving it.

 

[YoursSINSerely]

Damn! I love the McDouble.

 

[Boxlicker101]

That's specious reasoning, Box. Any B- high school chemistry student knows that the ionically bonded NaCl (common table salt) has chemical properties that are radically different from it's component elements. Chloride ion is NOT chlorine gas. Sodium ion is NOT the same as Sodium, either. It's also fairly evident that people don't "literally burn out their lungs" every time they put a dash of salt on their food.

Well, duh, of course not. I am merely illustrating that a well known chemical which has a reputation as a poison is not necessarily harmful when used in other ways. Ammonia is a strong-smelling, caustic chemical but, when diluted, works fine as a preservative.

Beef is beef, regardless of how high or low the grade.

 

[mynameisben]

Well, duh, of course not. I am merely illustrating that a well known chemical which has a reputation as a poison is not necessarily harmful when used in other ways. Ammonia is a strong-smelling, caustic chemical but, when diluted, works fine as a preservative.

Beef is beef, regardless of how high or low the grade.

Well, fine. You eat it.

 

[TE999]

Just as long as they don't mess with the Purple Slime that makes a McRib so tasty.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Well, fine. You eat it.

I have eaten hamburgers from McDonald's. Many times, and I expect to do so again in the future.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

And let's all wash it down with a tall, cool glass of H2So4.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

If people ever saw a list of the naturally occurring compounds in the purest, most organically-grown, picked-by-virgins apple, or strawberry, or any other type of food, they'd run clawing at their throats and screaming for the hills. Americans are just terrified by science, and chemistry in particular. Even the word "chemical" has become demonized and is now synonymous with "poison."

I'll spare you the everything-is-a-chemical-to-a-chemist lecture, but come on! Dial down the hysteria.

Of course, calling something "pink slime" isn't going to help. How about if steak were called "beef carcass tissue," or tofu was "spoiled, lye-processed soybean mash"? Or maybe you'd like a ham and dehydrated-bacterial-infused-fermented-milk-solids sandwich?

BTW, I see where 35 people were recently taken seriously ill from drinking whole natural unpasteurized milk from a free-range organic dairy in Pennsylvania.

I also see where there's a serious proposal that sugar be listed and regulated as a controlled substance like cocaine and heroin.

The March of Progress continues...

 

[amofiga]

So what do we know about Burger King and Wendy's? Pink Slime or not? I guess my favorite term is "beef byproducts". What's that? Hooves and eyeballs? At least when you're eating Rocky Mountain Oysters you know what your getting.

 

[TE999]

So what do we know about Burger King and Wendy's? Pink Slime or not? I guess my favorite term is "beef byproducts". What's that? Hooves and eyeballs? At least when you're eating Rocky Mountain Oysters you know what your getting.

SPAM (the Hormel kind) is pork shoulder, potted meat is pig's snouts, lips and ears, sausage ... umm ... don't go there, but it is meat.

Time was a farmer used every part of a pig but the squeal; now we're spoiled by supermarkets and butcher shops and go 'Eww' when the less attractive parts of an animal are mentioned as food. Cow's tongue, sheep's balls, chicken feet and oxtail soup anyone?

 

[mynameisben]

If people ever saw a list of the naturally occurring compounds in the purest, most organically-grown, picked-by-virgins apple, or strawberry, or any other type of food, they'd run clawing at their throats and screaming for the hills.

Which "people" are you talking about here? Stupid people? Naturally occurring compounds are going to be found in naturally grown foods. No kidding. Yes, there are those who will claw and scream when you whisper in their ear that government testing agencies found large quantities of dihydrogen monoxide in their brand of bottled water. But let's keep idiots out of the discussion. Holding those "people" up as representative examples, in its most forgiving assessment, cheapens your argument to those who use their heads for more than a portable hat rack.

Americans are just terrified by science, and chemistry in particular. Even the word "chemical" has become demonized and is now synonymous with "poison."

Some Americans. Not "Americans." I'm assuming you don't live in Chicago, North Korea.

I'll spare you the everything-is-a-chemical-to-a-chemist lecture, but come on! Dial down the hysteria.

I don't think it's "hysteria" to take a dim view of shady business practices that heap unnecessary health risks onto large segments of the population. Beef Products Inc. is shoveling up slaughterhouse waste trimmings that are so loaded up with lethal pathogens, they must be processed with unprecedented levels of NH3 to make them "fit" for human consumption. Prior to 2000, these lowest grade trimmings were relegated only to pet food makers or refined into cooking oil. How much NH3 are we talking here? Beef naturally contains levels of NH3 that place its pH close to 6 on the pH scale. Traditional beef processing methods have treated normal beef with moderate levels of NH3 to improve it's resistance to E. coli, salmonella and other pathogens the beef might get exposed to during normal shipment and storage. These levels of NH3 raise the pH of the beef into the 6.5 - 7.0 range. Then, in 2000, along comes Beef Products Inc, the big supplier to McDonalds and most other fast food burger chains. They take trimmings that are ALREADY teeming with unsafe levels of pathogens. They liquify their slaughterhouse sludge, extract the protein from the resultant fat mash with centrifuges, and then gas it with levels of NH3 so high, it pushes the pH of their "meat" into the range of 9.5 to 10.0. Anything less than that appears to be insufficient to kill off the pathogens that are already in the product to begin with. What they are left with is an ammonia cleansed pseudo-meat slurry that smells like a ballpark men's room and has a stomach irritating pH so high, it can only be used it in small quantities as an additive to real hamburger. And it's still rich enough in fat to make hamburgers juicier and more addictive. Why go through all that trouble to become maybe 2% of a hamburger? Because if you can pay off corrupt politicians to bend the rules of food safety, you can sell shit (literally, shit) to billions and become fabulously wealthy. The heath of billions, who are unaware what goes into their hamburgers, be damned.

Of course, calling something "pink slime" isn't going to help. How about if steak were called "beef carcass tissue," or tofu was "spoiled, lye-processed soybean mash"? Or maybe you'd like a ham and dehydrated-bacterial-infused-fermented-milk-solids sandwich?

This is not a matter of name calling for the sheer sport of it. Pink Slime is what it is. I encourage you to read this investigative artical by the New York Times, which details exactly what Pink Slime really is, as well as the slime of a different color who peddle it.

BTW, I see where 35 people were recently taken seriously ill from drinking whole natural unpasteurized milk from a free-range organic dairy in Pennsylvania.

People make mistakes all the time. Isolated incidents like a small dairy farm mishap, which, tragic in it's own right, effects relatively small numbers of people. The documented mishaps of which Beef Products Inc. has been identified as responsible for numbers into the dozens, just within the past five years. Their pink slime mishaps did more damage than make just a handful of people ill. These mishaps resulted in hundreds of deaths.

I also see where there's a serious proposal that sugar be listed and regulated as a controlled substance like cocaine and heroin.

I once read an article about a man who filed a bicycle down to metal shavings and swallowed the entire thing one gel capsule at a time. I wish I had saved the link so you could add it to your charming collection of fireside non sequiturs.

 

[lance gt]

Let's face it, they don't call it Rotten Ronnie's for nothing.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

A long time ago there used to be strings of semi-fast food places that would give you a steak, baked potato, and salad for $1.29. (Like I said, it was a long time ago.) A woman told me how one time she ate at one of these places and didn't like her steak. She took it up to the counter and complained that the steak wasn't good.

The cashier looked at her and said, "Lady, for a dollar twenty-nine, what do you expect?"


Here's some interesting reading. It's a list of what the FDA considers allowable levels of filth ("defects", they call it) in our food (spoiler alert: you may never want to eat again if you read this): http://www.fda.gov/food/guidancecomplianceregulatoryinformation/guidancedocuments/sanitation/ucm056174.htm

 

[litfan10]

A couple of years ago I read a great book by a journalist who, on a person mission, took the label from a Twinkie and tracked down each ingredient from its rawest form in the earth all through the processing steps until the final Twinkie was made. Each chapter was a different ingredient. Some of the ingredients would be shipped off to become Twinkies whilst other of the same ingredient would became rocket fuel propellant or cement mixing emulsifier or paint thinner with it being just time of day determining which would become edible or toxic.

http://www.twinkiedeconstructed.com/Twinkiewebsite/Welcome.html

Really made me stop, think and have more care about what goes in my system, but, yep, I still will eat an occasional Twinkie.

 

[litfan10]

Honestly, I firmly believe that the FDA and the major food corporations are far more concerned with adding money to their pockets than with any, ANY, consideration for the health or well being of the common man.