What are your opinions on "pink slime"?

[chickened]

This is kind of one of my arguments against government regulations. They are bought out by those that wish to "pull a fast one" so to speak. Yet people still look to the government for salvation from the food producers and in reality the regulators are embedded with them. It is not the food producers it is the regulatory agency that is causing this. They are the ones with the power and they constantly cave to pressure from the producers but ultimately it is the government that allows this and we as people turn right around and put our trust right back into the governments arms... sheople.

People talking to people is what piques interest in finding out about what we eat.

The industry name is "Lean Finely Textured Beef". That, or a similar name, is what would this ground beef byproduct would be labeled as. Not "pink slime".

Not that easy. Even *if* you have craigslist access to people who raise their own meat (many areas do not, ie. inner cities), the prices in some areas are still not affordable to many.

As someone else said, if you do not know, you do not know to ask. This is one reason I am thankful people make an effort to educate others about their food, then let them make an educated choice. Many are very deeply immersed (and purposefully so) in a culture where they are told their food is safe, and yes, healthy, and there is plenty of junk "science" to back that up. Huge ammounts of money are spent on corporate studies to do just that. I'm very glad that you had the opportunity to be raised in an environment where these issues were addressed, but many have not. PS. Those posters in your cafeteria with the food pyramid were shown to be incorrect and skewed by food industry politics.

The bigger picture is better labeling and regulation of *all* products. That includes hot dogs. So people pointing to them to say "hey, they don't have great labeling, so end of discussion" doesn't make much sense to me.

As someone else pointed out, MSM keeps getting confused with the process used for LFTB. Not the same process, and MSM is found on labels. MSM beef is also no longer allowed for human consumption.
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/Products/ProductInfoDisplay.aspx?SiteId=1&Product=4470000063

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Interestingly enough, the MSM beef is not allowed in human food because of BSE, or mad cow disease.

It also begs the question of why "pink slime" isn't banned due to BSE.

Bottom line, if you don't know you can't make an informed choice. Hence the frenzy and panic. Label foods with ingredients, all of them. If it is a gmo product, let the consumer know. If it is centrifuged, ammonia treated meat byproduct, let the consumer know. If it is honey mixed with corn syrup, let the consumer know. If the gelatin contains pork product, let the consumer know.

There is no MSM in "pink slime"

It's not banned because it's just trimmings off the better cuts of meat that have been ground.
It's the same meat
It's not a "byproduct"

Any "frenzy and panic" is just an overreaction to some media hype

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Quote:
Yup, it's a byproduct:
"A by-product is a secondary product derived from a manufacturing process or chemical reaction. It is not the primary product or service being produced. A by-product can be useful and marketable or it can be considered waste."
It is a ground beef byproduct. Byproducts are not inherently bad things.





Quote:
I don't see how not pushing for reform and consumer-access to information (such as labeling) will help with that situation at all. Sitting back and letting things happen as they are certainly isn't going to help.
They are both causing this.

 

[duckinnut]

Yup, it's a byproduct:
"A by-product is a secondary product derived from a manufacturing process or chemical reaction. It is not the primary product or service being produced. A by-product can be useful and marketable or it can be considered waste."
It is a ground beef byproduct. Byproducts are not inherently bad things.




I don't see how not pushing for reform and consumer-access to information (such as labeling) will help with that situation at all. Sitting back and letting things happen as they are certainly isn't going to help.
They are both causing this.

Technically it is not a by-product because the intended purpose is to extract the meat from the fat. It could be done by human hands but is done a mechanical process to save on cost. I can see your got your info from Wiki. If we go by that pretty much everything we eat is a by-product. Olive oil,canola,vegetable oils,flour and so on......

 

[braindead101]

"Lean finely textured beef" should not need treatment with ammonia to make it safe for us to eat. If it can't be used without ammonia don't sell it for consumption. My dogs don't need ammonia in their diet either.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Here is a dictionary definition if it is prefered:
1. a secondary or incidental product, as in a process of manufacture.
2.
the result of another action, often unforeseen or unintended.

The product in question is pulled from the remains of what is taken for cuts and ground beef. It has always been used as a filler and is not the main intended product. It is a byproduct. Machinery being used or not is not what makes a byproduct.

Even using the wiki definition (which is simply more specific to the act of making goods than the dictionary terms), wheat flour, olive oil, etc. are major products sold in usuable forms. Not a byproduct. However, olive oil and flour production do create byproducts, some of which are quite useful. Again, byproducts are not inherently 'bad' (or 'good'). But, LFTB is certainly a byproduct.

 

[mom'sfolly]

It could not be done by hand. There is no way any manual method could remove the amount of fat a centrifuge would. It simply isn't possible. The only way this material can get on the marketplace as a lean meat product is by removing the fat by machine. The product is ground, slowly heated to liquify the fat, and the fat is spun out of the lean. This is actually a byproduct of a fat rendering process. The meat starts at 65-75% fat and 25-35% lean. To get it to the "lean finely textured beef, LFTB" it must be highly processed. Due to the high bacteria load of the final lean product, it is treated with a chemical agent; ammonia or citric acid.

So when meat producer say this produces 10-20 of extra lean meat per cow, what they are saying is "we take 30-80 pounds of fat that we can't sell as food, grind it, render it, and feed you the lean 10-20 pounds".

It is a byproduct, and cannot be produced by conventional meat cutting, or anything similar to conventional meat processing.

 

[chickened]

The info on all chemicals is out there it is called a MSDS material safety data sheet. Most foods have a 1 800 number you can call, you can ask the butcher and they can find out for you. There are many ways to research a product. The regulatory agencies were pushed and this mess is what we got and now we want more from them? I just do not trust them I deal with government agencies all day long and I assure you the big boys do not play by the rules and if there is a rule they oppose they change it. I see no hope in looking time and time again to the government. " Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me."

Your idea is a popular one and sounds really good in theory but these type of issues just do not pan out in the end someone is bought off. A producer can argue and prevail that labeling too much would inhibit sales. I do think something should be done and the way I would do it is through education but then again how do you teach someone something when the majority of the people do not care and will still eat a product? People that care that much about what they eat are still in the minority, a very small minority. Most are wanting to spend as little as they can on food. Look at the meat isle they sell way more potroasts and cheap chicken then ribeyes. Walmart has those big bags of burger patties already made into patties and they sell them all day long very cheap and I bet in part to pink slime.

Yup, it's a byproduct:
"A by-product is a secondary product derived from a manufacturing process or chemical reaction. It is not the primary product or service being produced. A by-product can be useful and marketable or it can be considered waste."
It is a ground beef byproduct. Byproducts are not inherently bad things.






I don't see how not pushing for reform and consumer-access to information (such as labeling) will help with that situation at all. Sitting back and letting things happen as they are certainly isn't going to help.
They are both causing this.

 

[chickened]

Paper is a by-product of wood fiber. It is processed, heated and turned into paper. The chips are still wood fiber but no longer a tree. Glean what you can from this example if you cannot decide what a by-product is or when it actually becomes one.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Chickened, what would your solution be? If it is similar to that put forth by some, "do nothing and no restrictions on industry", I personally do not see that as a viable or acceptable course of action.




Quote:
Good example.

. Though, paper is generally considered to be a major product and industry, so is not always considered a byproduct in stricter terms. The process does make a few though.