Pink Slime

I Have no idea if the US is exporting any of this to the Mexican marketplace and haven't been able to find any evidence of thing happening. However, I wouldn't be surprised if it is going on.

"70 Percent of Ground Beef at Supermarkets Contains ‘Pink Slime’"

"Gerald Zirnstein grinds his own hamburger these days. Why? Because this former United States Department of Agriculture scientist and, now, whistleblower, knows that 70 percent of the ground beef we buy at the supermarket contains something he calls “pink slime.”

“Pink slime” is beef trimmings. Once only used in dog food and cooking oil, the trimmings are now sprayed with ammonia so they are safe to eat and added to most ground beef as a cheaper filler........................
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/70-percent-of-ground-beef-at-supermarkets-contains-pink-slime/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/post/beef--er-pink-slime--its-whats-for-school-lunch-and-im-okay-with-it/2012/03/07/gIQABUVpxR_blog.html





While I cannot say that I am surprised, I find this truly offensive! On the plus side, the evening news said that Costco has certified that they do no use pink slime and that is where we purchase our beef.

Well, that's the same goop that McDonalds claim they've eliminated as of last august. Just gives you that warm fuzzy feeling doesn't it.
BTW Jamie Oliver tried to clean up the school food system in California, and got shot down in flames.

raqueteer wrote:Well, that's the same goop that McDonalds claim they've eliminated as of last august. Just gives you that warm fuzzy feeling doesn't it.
BTW Jamie Oliver tried to clean up the school food system in California, and got shot down in flames.

Don't trust McDonald's or any other fast food chains claim.

This is no different than what they make hot dogs from, meat scraps, the cheaper the brand the more crap in it.

With the exception of the fresh ground meat at Costco, which I semi-trust.......If I want hamburger, I buy a chunk of sirloin and ask the butcher to grind it.
I keep my beady eyes on him while he's doing it, too.

Been doing this for years, ever since I saw what Safeway stores did with their scraps. Put them in barrels, transported them to a central warehouse and there, they were blood-dripped for color and turned into those nice looking little packages with plastic wrap around them and finally, returned to the stores.


Enough to "gag a maggot".

I can stand there at El Torito and watch them make the hamburger. No pink slime there.

Ugh!

Tony's and ask for extra fat. You can't make a decent hamburger without it.

Sure you can. It's a matter of taste, what you add in seasonings and what goes on the bun. But like any survey in burgers, you'll find some like 'em lean and some like 'em fatty. They're both right....according to their lights...... and what their stomachs will put up with without rebelling.

I can tell you that after viewing the reports and reading various articles, we won't be buying ground beef from any supermarket chain. It will be either the small specialty meat market or Costco. If we were in Mexico, I would be highly suspect of WallyWorld, Sams, Bodega, Soriana, Mega, etc.

CheenaGringo wrote:I can tell you that after viewing the reports and reading various articles, we won't be buying ground beef from any supermarket chain. It will be either the small specialty meat market or Costco. If we were in Mexico, I would be highly suspect of WallyWorld, Sams, Bodega, Soriana, Mega, etc.

Folks isn't the real truth that hamburger is kinda dangerous in mega corporate food world? You just don't know and many of these folks just don't care obviously.
Watch your meat being ground is the only way unless you trust your meat cutter person. Over and over and over hamburger comes up on the bad food lists due
to cross contamination no less the issue of adding slime to the meat. We buy our burg meat at El Toritoes not sure I would buy wally world burg. Steak yes.

Z

¿What happened to Doctor Mike?

"The World Health Organization (WHO) says that ammonium hydroxide (which is essentially a solution of ammonia in water) can be used in over 60 food categories"

gringal wrote:Sure you can. It's a matter of taste, what you add in seasonings and what goes on the bun. But like any survey in burgers, you'll find some like 'em lean and some like 'em fatty. They're both right....according to their lights...... and what their stomachs will put up with without rebelling.

Exactly right. Everyone's taste is different. We have tried Tony's for a long time, 2 types of ground beef there, Walmart and the small Carniceria next to the huge fish store in La Huerta Plaza, West Ajijic.

# 1 - Most flavor and most juicy - Consistency - Walmart Ground Sirloin, not their Premium
# 2 - Second Best from the Carniceria in La Huerta Plaza
# 3 - Tony's - Whether ground sirloin or his meat mix - Inconsistent - tasteless - just doesn't look good

Since we were witness to the scandal in San Cristóbal de Las Casas of the municipal rastro selling tainted meats to local retail outlets including even high end carnicerias, we have purchased our own home meat grinder and not only buy our meat from reputable stores that we have personally assessed as fresh and of good quality but we grind it at home in our own meat grinder we have meticulously cleaned ourselves. The meat you have chosen at your favorite carniceria ground by the butcher at your direction may be fine if you know your butcher and trust that butcher´s cleanliness standards.

The last time I purchased good quality beef at one of the carnicerias touted above at Lakeside, having had it properly trimmed with some fat left in the mix for flavor, on the way from the counter to the grinder the clerk dropped the meat on the floor, picked it up and started to grind it anyway. Dawg canceled the order. Had I been distracted during this process and failed to observe this incident, I would have taken that hamburger home and blissfully consumed it.

I haven´t bought pre-ground, pre-packaged beef in any supermarket for years. Red slime may be one of the nicest additives in that package and, at 70 years old, I have only even heard of the existence of this additive this week.

I am told that cockroach parts are not detectable nor unwholesome in limited quantities whether in that bottle of ketchup or the ground beef comprising one´s cheeseburger. After all, Dawg, as a banker, has, in the distant past, observed wine and ketchup in the process of being made and have noted the amount of wholesome insect protein that goes, inadvertently into the mix. Yum!

It's nearly dinner time and dawg has made me sick to my stomach. And to be sure there are cockroaches everywhere especially in Mexico. Never saw one until I arrived here.

Hey, just think of it as extra, muy barato protein!

Speaking of "mystery meat":
"Sausage industry blasts 'Hot Dogs Cause Butt Cancer' ad in Chicago"
"A billboard is bluntly telling Chicagoans that hot dogs cause "butt cancer" — and the hot dog industry is not amused.

The billboard is one of a series of ads being put up in major cities by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, or PCRM, urging people to stop eating hot dogs, which it says are a leading cause of colon and other cancers..........
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/13/10671418-sausage-industry-blasts-hot-dogs-cause-butt-cancer-ad-in-chicago

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The grocery chains NOB are running away from the use of pink slime ASAP. With the exception of WallyWorld most of the majors have now declared to be pink slime free. The word so far out of WallyWorld is that one can ask the people in the meat department which products have pink slime.

School systems are also running away from this controversy.

Never was allowed in Canada....

I have never had any complaints about meat selections in Mexico...

I have seen some cuts I had little interest in... but been happy with everything taken home so far...

Good butchers in Jocotepec, Chapala... Tony's is good.... found select cuts in Wal-mart very good

I think some like to piss & moan just to hear themselves ?? piss & moan...

I guess the power of the media has been shown in this case:
"The maker of "pink slime" suspended operations Monday at all but one plant where the beef ingredient is made, acknowledging recent public uproar over the product has cost the company business.

Craig Letch, director of food quality and assurance for Beef Products Inc., declined to discuss financial details, but said business has taken a "substantial" hit since social media exploded with worry over the ammonia-treated filler and an online petition seeking its ouster from schools drew hundreds of thousands of supporters............................................

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/03/26/national/a093235D35.DTL#ixzz1qMwPHmqV

Last friday BPI (Beef Products Inc.) published a full page ad last friday in
the Wall Street Journal. I must admit they have not had any instances of
illness traced to there product. However I (and others quite a few I guess)
don't want ammonia treated meat scraps added to my Burger meat. I can't
understand why people don't want this wonderful wholesome product
added to there burgers. NOT....

Z

nothin a little Ketsup wouldn't fix.....

Why do I find it funny that a Mr. Letch is involved? LOL

"Now that the maker of lean beef products has suspended operations at three plants, will the public forget the “pink slime” controversy?

The private company, Beef Products Inc., based in Dakota Dunes, S.D., certainly hopes so. It is taking its case to the public, which has been bombarded in recent weeks with news stories saying the product was not safe or healthy and announcements at groceries like Kroger and Safeway that they would no longer purchase ground beef made with lean finely textured beef.

According to The Associated Press, Beef Products will suspend operations at plants in Amarillo, Texas; Garden City, Kan.; and Waterloo, Iowa. About 200 employees at each of the three plants will get full salary and benefits for 60 days during the suspension, the AP reported, adding, the company’s plant at its headquarters will continue operations...............

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mickeymeece/2012/03/27/pink-slime-controversy-takes-a-toll-on-beef-producer/

This is all about proper marketing. For instance, this "red slime" simply was given a name reminiscent of mucus or drooling saliva. Had those producing this innocuous ancd tasteless - perhaps even nutritious - product providing needed bulk to feed the masses, simply thought through the naming process, they might have advertised meat so supplemented as "carne con baba rosa"* - a somewhat exotic and enticing name that simply means "meat with pink slime".

As a commmercial bank lender to a wide range of business enterprises over many years before retiring, I observed many an industrial process in my functions as a business development and account officer and among those were businesses processing all sorts of food products from wine to vegetables to meat and fish products and if one is bothered by "pink slime", one does not want to even think about the huge numbers of repulsive little critters that introduce themselves in bits and pieces to so many of the mass produced processed food products we consume purchased from industrial plants. of course, that is only the critters we can actually see of which I speak.

* The word "baba" has no negative connotation in English and means, more than anything else, perhaps, a small cake soaked in dark rum. However, my wife tells me that, in France, the word "baba" is a disgusting reference to the type of slime dripping from human facial orifices so marketing in France may require some rethinking.

How about "High Energy, Probiotic, Antioxidizing Meat Enhancer"?? You could sell it by the gallon so people could mix it in at home.......jajaja.

The official name within the Beef Industry for this product is: "lean finely textured beef" (LFTB).

The "pink slime" name came from one of the critics of the use of this product. It was a great choice because it has such a negative connotation and probably was as equally detrimental to the demise of this product as the news reports. Now that all of the reports have come out on its widespread use by the various chains, I now have a guess why there has been a variance in the taste of hamburger in recent years.