What are your opinions on "pink slime"?

[RHRanch]

Exactly.

I'm not sure why some think it's "hides and floor sweepings"

If you don't WANT it , don't buy preground meat, but don't make up things about it that simply aren't true.

My brother worked in a a traditional (European style) butcher shop for many years. He says some of the trimmings they are talking about using might be what a butcher would grind into sausages, but some might be what they sent out to be rendered/tossed. Either way, he made a face when this "pink slime" came up... and he is not squeamish. It won't kill you... But it's more suited as slop and we eat it up don't we?

 

[chickened]

One good thing going for us is we do have a choice in what we eat. People can cook from scratch if they want to take the time to do it. They can choose to buy meat from a trusted source or go the cheap route which is usually inferior just like with any other commodity. Remember the free government cheese? it was the worst cheese on the market, the military used to serve food from a can painted green with lead paint that flaked off into the food when you opened the can... because it was cheap. Someday people in this country will quit looking to the government for the answers and start looking at themselves. If you want to know what you are eating find out for yourself and then you will know. Regulatory agencies are for the producers and they are there to help the producers comply with the laws and those laws are designed in turn so that the producer can comply... if that makes sense.

 

[mom'sfolly]

You don't have a choice if you don't know it is there.

Most Americans shop at a grocery store. I think you would be hard pressed to find a farm to fork provider in a large city. So the stuff should be labeled, so people have a choice.

The guy who coined the term 'pink slime" was an experienced food inspector, no some lily-livered reporter. He didn't approve the product for human consumption. The person who did, went on to work for the meat industry.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

It's pretty interesting to me that people are acting as if it is a simple choice between buying premium beef/raising one's own cattle or buying/having access to the cheaper meats out there. Surely we aren't that disconnected from the lives of each other? Right?

I personally don't care if an ingredient is the healthiest thing on the planet. If something has free-range, humanely raised, organic happy berries in it...best be putting "happy berries" on the label. Say nothing of the issue involving the happy berry company paying off happy berry regulators.

 

[redhen]

Yes. I think many folks really are THAT disconnected from the lives and hardships of others..
"If I can afford to eat all organic and farm raised.,free range meat...why cant YOU? You're an evil monster because you eat meat from the grocery store.."

 

[chickened]

If I am not mistaken it is only in burger and the last time I looked at the grocery store there was more than burger and it does not take a degree in social economics or government public service messages to figure out that when meat is ground to a pulp and packaged that it is a guess as to what is in it. Hotdogs? Another example of dumming down. People need to ask "you have not because you ask not" It is called survival instinct and self preservation skill, things they do not teach anymore unfortunately.

How exactly would you put "pink slime" on a label and expect to sell it? That would be like saying hotdog labels saying all the stuff that is allowed in them.

Ultimately the consumer puts the food in their mouth and that is where the responsibility starts and ends.

All people have to do is go on CL and they have full access to homegrown meat products and I really see no need for government babysitting over the food other than general safety.. People know what is good for them in general and yet they still choose to eat unhealthy foods and nobody is going to change that no matter how big the label gets but when diets change is when people get motivated enough to be concerned about it. It is like smoking any one using logic should know that deliberately inhaling any smoke is not good for you, you cough and that is your body telling you that is a no-no. Certain foods effect me negatively and I have learned to listen to my body. This was taught when I was in school as a child. There was posters all over the cafeteria about food groups. Before someone says "well that was a government program" school was the place to learn that, not as an adult from the grocery stores, like they are reliable anyhow, and that includes the FDA and their marriage to the food industry and it is not trustworthy either.

http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/...y-in-a-hot-dog-and-how-unhealthy-are-they.htm

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Hot_Dogs/

 

[RHRanch]

I think all consumers want is transparency in how their food is made and what is in it. Food manufacturers know that we like the taste of things that are bad for us (sugar, salt, fats). All they have to do is label food accordingly and/or describe the process of how their product is made. If they use chemicals in the process that may be harmful (or even unharmful ones), they should come out and say so. If it's made of internal organs, write it on the package.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

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

 

[mom'sfolly]

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.

 

[AquaEyes]

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.

I think it's because the prions associated with BSE are located in the brain and spinal column. To avoid tissue from these areas becoming human food, MSM from cattle was banned in the human food supply, because the process could be used on vertebrae and skulls. The danger with LFTB is that, coming from the outer soft tissues, it is more likely to be contaminated with fecal bacteria during processing. Until the "sterilizing" processes were developed, it couldn't be sold raw.

Interestingly, while MSM beef can't be fed to humans, it can be fed to other livestock, such as pigs and poultry. The prions could then enter the human food supply if they contaminate the brain and spinal cords of those species. They are not affected by heat associated with cooking or rendering. In the UK, beef brain and spinal tissue can't be used for any food -- human or non-human.

Or, at least, that's what I remember. I'd have to look it up again, but I should really focus on finishing my paper.......