Jamie Oliver shows where the various cuts of beef come from on the cow. After the good cuts are gone, what happens with the waste trimmings? It gets made into pink slime.
If you don’t have the time or stomach to watch, here’s the synopsis: Butchers pay companies to take away the parts of the cow that cannot be fed to humans. This is usually used to make chicken and dog feed. But thanks to good old Yankee ingenuity, some clever entrepreneurs figured out how to take these remnants and separate the fat so they could access the remaining meat. They “cleanse” that meat in an ammonia solution to kill the e.coli, salmonella, and other pathogens. Then they grind it and it looks just like ground beef.
By law, up to 15% of this pink slime can be mixed into regular ground beef. This filler is popular with fast food chains and grocery stores. Since the ammonia is a processing agent and not an ingredient, there’s no requirement to list it on the label.
Still wondering if my local beef is worth the price? The real question is: Are our legislators and administration officials worth their price?
UPDATE:
I’ve been asking “my” farmers for their assurance. The following farms confirm there is NO pink slime in their ground beef (and that means no ammonia in or on any of their meat either):
Note: Not all the replies are in yet and I will continue to update this list.
If “your” farmers have given you their assurance, please post it in a comment. Thanks.