We were appalled the other night when we saw the piece on ABC news about “pink slime” in ground beef that is sold in stores. It’s a rare occurrence, you might say, but sadly no…another report on it last night that pink slime is in 70% of the ground beef sold in stores today. Can we have a collective Ewwwww? What is pink slime you say ? It’s cheap filler or BLBT…boneless lean beef trimmings. In a nut shell, it’s stuff that used to be used only by dog food suppliers and cooking oil suppliers but now it’s made its’ way into our food. It’s gelatin like trimmings that are disinfected with ammonia and then added to ground beef to stretch it. Sounds yummy, eh ? A whistle blower for BPI, who brought this little secret out of the dark, says it sort of resembles Play Doh. I love play doh ! Love the way it smells and feels when you create cute little things out of it. But dang I don’t want to eat it (well there was that time in the 2nd grade….never mind) nor do I want it in my food. I know what you’re thinking….Surely the USDA must be outraged by this. Ahhh, not so much. Here’s there take on it. “The low-grade trimmings come from the parts of the cow most susceptible to contamination, often close to the hide, which is highly exposed to fecal matter. But because of BPI’s treatment of the trimmings — simmering them in low heat, separating fat and tissue using a centrifuge and spraying them with ammonia gas to kill germs — the United States Department of Agriculture says it’s safe to eat.” Double Ewwwww…
Wondering if you are buying from the 30% that doesn’t have this crap in it ? Go here to see which stores are carrying which types of ground beef. Does any of this surprise me ? Nope. In my 30+ years in food service, I’ve seen a sharp decline in the quality of the foods available. It’s really scary to see all of the processed foods that take up shelf space in the stores but even scarier to see the adulteration of basic ingredients like ground beef, chicken breasts, etc I’ve heard horror stories from the food supply reps I’ve had over the years about conditions in processing plants and what animals are fed in mass feed lots before being slaughtered. It’s really sad and discouraging when you want to make meals from scratch and even the basic ingredients are crap. I loved working with local farmers to bring wholesome foods to the table when I was at the college. You know the “path” that your food took to your doorstep and that it was not adulterated on the way there. You were of a similar mindset with the farmer on how food should be raised and all benefit….the producer of the product and the recipient of it. It’s encouraging to see “Buy local” campaigns flourishing but more needs to happen sooner to fight off the disgusting tactics of corporate farms and the crap they produce that they call “food”.
Buy Local….know where your food came from and what went into it. Ask questions and get involved. After all, it’s your life at stake.
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1 comment:
The whistle-blower grinds his own meat. But if you don't want to do that, take Linda's advice and buy locally. And ask where the meat comes from. I'm with you -- Ewww to pink slime.
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