Does your meat contain “pink slime”? Chances are, it does, and pretty soon your children’s school lunch will, too. According to the ABC News report, 70 percent of ground beef at supermarkets contain the “pink slime” additive, and the USDA just made a huge purchase to serve it in the federal school lunch program.
What is this stuff and why is it in your meat? It’s basically a processed mixture made from all the disgusting leftover trimming from meats (fat, connective tissue, etc), which is then ground up, sprayed with ammonia hydroxide and other chemicals to kill bacteria, and added as a filler to ground beef. It’s usually added to pet food and chicken feed, but has been added to fresh ground beef for decades, unrecognized under the name “lean finely textured beef.”
Former USDA scientist Gerald Zirnstein warns that it’s a cheap substitute and just a big lie, revealing: “They’ve taken a processed product, without labeling it, and added it to raw ground beef,” the scientist told The Daily. “Science is the truth, and pink slime at this point in time is a fraudulent lie.”
McDonald’s, Burger King and other fast food companies have stopped using “pink slime” in their food. Yet, the government thinks it’s okay to put it in 70% of American’s supermarket beef, and now in children’s school lunches? Moral Low Ground reported on Tuesday that the USDA is purchasing seven million pounds of ‘pink slime’ to be served in hamburger and other meat products in its National School Lunch Program.
Zirnstein and fellow USDA scientist Carl Custer, studied this product and classified it as a “high risk product.” Zirnstein says the food inspection service ignored their findings, and commissioned a separate study to access its safety. Since stepping down, Zirnstein has bought his own meat grinder…something to consider.
