Is ground beef safer with or without “pink slime”?
Associated Press photo.
The Associated Press reported Monday that three of the four plants that manufacture lean, finely textured beef, which has taken on the repulsive nickname “pink slime,” have suspended operations indefinitely. These plants are located in Amarillo, Texas; Waterloo, Iowa; and Garden City, Kan.
According to the AP, the Amarillo plant produced 200,000 pounds per day while the other two plants produced about 350,000 pounds per day. The fourth plant, in Dakota Dunes, SD, continues to operate. For 60 days, workers at the shut-down plants will get full salary and benefits.
I feel sorry for those folks. They’re just trying to make money to support themselves and their families. The larger picture, however, shows what consumers can do when they bond together and firmly decry a product or practice they find unacceptable.
The closure is directly related to the public outcry over the use of the ammonia-treated substance in ground beef found in school cafeterias, restaurants and grocery store meat departments. Pink slime has been around for years, and it was outed in the documentary “Food, Inc.” which was released in 2008. I can remember the Beef Products, Inc. interview and the comment that 70 percent of the pre-formed hamburger patties made in America contain LFTB.
Apparently that revelation was not enough to cause the shock and disgust that recently launched a social media campaign and petition to rid school cafeteria beef of LFTB. The campaign (complete with some pretty nasty pictures) has spurred coverage from traditional media. All of this attention has caused companies to hurriedly pull LFTB ground beef from store shelves and reassure customers that they are listening.
Those companies include Kroger, Food Lion and Safeway. Walmart, Sam’s Club and others are adding LFTB-free options to their current line of products. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture has said it will give school systems the option of buying LFTB-free ground beef (keep in mind, however, that in a lot of school systems get only a small percentage of their beef from the Federal School Lunch Program).
But as is always the case in these situations, someone – often a reputable source – begins to question whether the outrage is warranted. In this case, one of those questioning sources is The Atlantic, which on Friday published a story called “Is It Time to Embrace Pink Slime?” The author, Ari LeVaux, considers other processed meat products such as hot dogs, bologna and chicken nuggets. Check out this interesting excerpt:
“Unlike LFTB, many nuggets and cylinders are made with mechanically separated meat. Chicken, turkey, and pork carcasses, already picked clean of presentable cuts, are pushed through filtering machinery under high pressure, removing every last scrap of tissue. The resulting fragments are used in chicken nuggets, turkey and pork sausage, and many other processed meats.
Mechanically separated beef, unlike chicken, turkey, and pork, is no longer approved for human consumption, because of concerns that bovine spinal cord fluid could spread mad cow disease. The final bits of beef are recovered via other methods that, while highly mechanized, are less traumatic to the carcass, minimizing spinal fluid leakage. So if you’re averse to ingesting spinal fluid, beef-based pink slime is actually a better bet than chicken nuggets or hot dogs containing pork or poultry.”
LeVeux goes on to point out that ammonium hydroxide, the processing agent used to treat LFTB to kill bacteria such as E.coli, might be gross but it isn’t as strong as the stuff used to preserve other processed meat products. He also says that aside from the ammonium hydroxide, the other ingredients in LFTB actually contain stuff the human body needs, including collagen.
The Los Angeles Times on Monday quoted food safety attorney Bill Marler in a story about pink slime. Marler visited Southwest Virginia back in October, during the cantaloupe-listeria outbreak. He told the L.A. Times:
“BPI had a disclosure problem,” Marler said. “From a public relations standpoint, they handled it incorrectly. Ultimately, when you’re selling people food, you ought to be transparent about what you’re selling them.” He went on to say that, prior to this, BPI has had a very positive reputation in terms of food safety.
Finally, over on NPR, a Penn State food scientist named Edward Mills is saying, “From a microbial-pathogen point of view, the product has a better reputation than straight ground beef.” Mills says it won’t make ground beef any safer if LFTB is removed – in fact, it might make it more dangerous from a food safety standpoint.
I know one thing for sure – pink slime is going to boost the local food movement. It seems a perfect example of why so many people are trying to revert to the way our ancestors ate, raising their own meat and vegetables or buying from someone they know.
Where do you stand on lean, finely textured beef?
March 27, 2012 - 5:07 AM
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I don’t like the idea of it, but we have used it in the past, I believe. We’ve bought some frozen pre-formed burgers from Kroger, the higher quality/price variety. I honestly don’t care for the texture of them that much, I like the fresh beef ones better, or even better just making our own with our burger press. It’s finally looking like this summer we’ll be able to afford buying our meats locally, and we’re looking forward to it.
Where in the Roanoke Valley can I purchase good quality beef (Angus) and be sure it doesn’t contain ‘pink slime’ or other additives? What’s the quality of Fresh Market’s beef?
Raymond, at this time I would only be confident in suggesting locally raised ground beef, so the farmer’s market would be the first answer.
It seems that a lot of big grocers are in the phasing-out period because Kroger and Food Lion have said they will stop purchasing it and Sam’s and Walmart have said they’ll start offering other options. I have put in a call to Fresh Market and will let you all know when I hear back from them. But I would suggest talking to someone in the meat department at your grocery store and asking them to show you which brands do not contain it. I would hope they would honestly tell you if they haven’t gotten any LFTB-free beef in yet.
If anybody is craving a burger and wants 100% unadulterated beef, I know Burger in the Square and Mike’s in Blacksburg grind their own beef fresh daily.
Please, anyone, feel free to chime in with other ideas.
Most grocery stores will make ground beef for you if you ask when the butcher is there. At least I know Kroger will grind fresh ground beef. But you have to go when the butcher is there, which is usually morning and early afternoon during the week. They also sell store ground beef in the fresh beef case.
I gave up on large scale meat production when I lived down the road from a big chicken farm. It was completely disgusting and they were a “clean” farm! I’ve rearranged my food budget to buy beef from my neighbor and chicken and pork from the farmers market. That and we hunt for venison. The meat we get now is so tasty that a smaller portion is really satisfying.
I think the real issue is that it wasn’t labeled properly. Unlike “mechanically separated” products, which do appear on food labels, the “pink slime” wasn’t required to be labeled (other than as “beef”). That’s what lead to all of this hysteria when people found out where it was being used.
I still occasionally eat products with mechanically-separated ingredients, and I would probably do so with this stuff as well; but it’s nice to have the ability to make an informed decision about it.
OK, I just received this email from Jordan Worrall, a spokesperson for Fresh Market:
The Fresh Market’s beef does not contain “pink slime.” Please accept the statement below from Drewry Sackett, PR and Community Relations Manager for The Fresh Market.
“At The Fresh Market, our beef is ground fresh daily in each store from whole roasts and steak trimmings and is sold only on the day it is ground. It does not have any additional fillers, including “pink slime.” We believe this provides for a far superior and safer product, and we cannot imagine it any other way.”
@ Mark, I think that’s exactly what Bill Marler was saying.
First topic – I refuse to succumb to the food processing lobby’s term of LFTB, since it seems like a clear case of propagandizing to me. How about we call it the more accurate ATB – ammonia treated beef? That way we’re all clear on what we’re discussing.
Secondly, the best way to avoid this meat byproduct is to shop only at stores that grind your selection of beef for you, or at sources that make it clear they refuse to sell ammonia treated beef. It’s pretty ironic that you can trust your local meat seller at the Farmer’s Market more than you can a huge corporation declared safe by the USDA. Then again, with any experience, it’s not ironic at all.
Something else to consider, all these retailers who have been selling pinkslimed, ammonia treated beef for years now? The WalMarts, the Food Lions, the Krogers, etc.? Just because they’ve announced they’re ‘going to stop’ selling it does not mean they intend to cancel any contracts for the product they might already have in place for meat to be delivered over the next several months.
Even the ones who say – ‘We’re not placing any more orders’, the same applies. They could easily have placed enough orders to fulfill their expected needs for the next six months.
Again, places like Fresh Market, who don’t need lawyers to make the statement that they don’t sell the ammonia treated beef, local grocers who will grind the meat in front of you, and local sources would be much smarter destinations than those we already know had no problem selling the stuff for years.
Raymond, Check out this website to find where you can get local beef and other foods. http://www.roanokevalleylocavore.com/
Yeah, I agree with Mark…it’s all about labeling and being honest about it. If it had been labeled, I’m not sure the uproar would have been there, especially in light of the voracious appetite for sausage, chicken nuggets, and hot dogs this country has. When I buy something labeled 100% beef, I expect beef and nothing else.
This raises a question though…if they had to start treating the beef with chemicals to make it ‘safer’, should we have even been consuming it in the first place? I know that it’s efficient and cost-effective to make use of every little scrap and morsel possible, primarily to maximize profit, but is that really the ‘best’ way to operate a business? Especially for the food supply? I’m thinking no…
One last comment (for now), do any of these spokespeople defending ammonia treated beef have a good recipe that they personally use for an ammonia marinade for steaks?
Here’s something to watch…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBkwUt-bqIo
Lindsey, thanks for getting the info on Fresh Market’s beef. Since they grind it fresh in store everyday, I think that’s where I will be getting my ground beef from now on, in addition to the Farmer’s Market vendors. I would love to purchase in bulk from the local farmers, but I don’t have the freezer space!
My initial reaction to the LFTB production suspension was the same as yours – people losing their livelihood over something they had no control over.
I also wonder if the term “pink slime” is really fair for this product. It seems to me that it harks back to the image of extruded pink paste that was circulating online a while back; only problem is, that was a picture of mechanically separated chicken, not LFTB. The pictures of LFTB I’ve seen so far look a lot less “slimy” than the nickname would lead you to assume.
Like other John I’ve noticed that Kroger Hamburger didn’t quite have the right texture to it the last time I tried it. I usually buy my meat from Wades or Foodlion, Mostly Wades supermarket though(locally owned and operated grocery chain since 1950) because it’s the closest thing to a real Butcher shop we have in my area and the meat is ground in store. Now here is something else to think about besides Pink slime. Meat Glue? Ever heard of It ? http://au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/article/-/9190450/glued-meat-widespread/
Did you know Beef Products inc operates right here in Roanoke?
http://www.manta.com/c/mmcqssf/beef-products-venture
I would never intentionally eat that stuff.. I wouldn’t even feed it to my dogs, I much prefer feeding them road kill.
You can always grind your own beef if you want to be totally sure it is slime-less
Lee, I remember seeing an expose’ on meat glue from an Aussie TV station a year or 2 ago…the science-lover in me was like ‘wow, that’s cool.’ The natural food lover was appalled…
With the Kroger beef…I’ve never noticed anything funny with the fresh beef in their display cases…just the frozen burger products, which were pretty much similar to any other frozen beef burger patty I’ve seen.
I’m glad to know that about Fresh Market. I’m with Lori, if I don’t buy it at the farmers market, I will be buying it at Fresh Market.
When roasts are on sale, I buy one and grind it myself. I haven’t done that for a while though.
When Krogers has sirloin tips on sale I buy one and get it all ground. Makes great burgers, etc.
Montanos buys their ground beef from Fresh Market. I think Montanos has one of the best burgers in town.
You can buy cuts of beef individually from the local farmer’s market. After having Sparks Farm beef (at the Roanoke and Salem markets), I cannot even stomach Kroger (or even Fresh Market-it’s still grain-fed) The quality is so much higher and tastes so much better.
Plus-they are USDA inspected and they are Animal Welfare Approved-so you know the cows aren’t stuffed altogether in some tiny barn standing in their own poop. Just a thought.
Living in Bedford doesn’t give me access to Fresh Market or the Roanoke Farmer’s Market on a regular basis, but a local grocery store grinds their own beef, so I don’t worry about it being ammonia treated. They do have some pre-packaged meats, but they still butcher pork, beef and chicken. They have the best meat in the area and will cut to order. Also, while they don’t have a huge produce section, they do have the best produce prices around. Thank goodness for Vista Foods.
For the past few months, I’ve taken to grinding my own meat at home, with the help of a KitchenAide Stand Mixer and the assorted attachments. Frankly, it just tastes better when I do it myself. Best meatloaf, chili, and ground beef I’ve had, far superior to the stuff I was getting from Kroger before.
I’ll admit it wasn’t out of any fear of pink slime – it’s just tastier this way, and the cats love it when I grind meat.
I purchased 10lbs of Fresh Marker Ground Chuck on their Feb. sale @2,99 deal. The beef had a hard grease in it like candle wax and so thick I could not wash it off my hand and sink. I thought it was an extra cheap blend for the sale. I returned it and the manager said it was 80percent fat and I should expect that. The replacement ground chuck was horrible with a hard lard that I have never seen in meat. It had the consistance of wax. I am furious because people think they are getting a healthy beef blend.
Sorry to get offbeat but I wasn’t aware that you can get beef from the Roanoke farmer’s market. Is this every weekend?
Are prices similar to say Kroger?
Hey Todd, there are usually at least 2 vendors selling meat on the Roanoke Farmers Market on Saturdays.
I go to Sandy River Pork, and they sell ground beef for about $6 a pound, plus he often has roasts and stew beef. It is more expensive than at the grocery store, though. And, of course, he has pork.
And I’ve seen another vendor there, too; I’m not sure of what kind of meat he carries, but I think it’s varied.
Hope that helps!
How would one know the circumstances under which the cows/pigs/chickens were raised by someone selling at the Roanoke Farmers Market? The situation could be deplorable! Just because the sellers are local doesn’t mean they’re clean and above-board. Is the meat/fowl offered for sale inspected by anyone?
The saga of ‘Pink Slime’ continues. I asked an employee working in the meat department at our local Kroger and he informed me that they had been selling the stuff for the past few years. I also called the meat department at Fresh Market and they informed me that they DON’T sell the stuff…neither does O’Brien’s Meats in Salem…which is where I’ll be taking my meat business and money from now on. As far as Kroger is concerned, I sure hope that I’m not what I eat. I wouldn’t want anyboby to think I’m a ‘slime ball.’
@toshka, yes meat has to be inspected for retail sale which includes farmers markets. If you have questions about farm conditions ask the farmer. They will let you visit the farm if you have doubts. It is a lot easier than driving out to a cafo in Colorado.
When you know you can drive about 30 minutes to visit a local farm where you’re buying your meat, you would, SHOULD, develop a sense of comfort. When you bother to look beyond the 100K sq ft storefront where you’d been buying your meat, you’d be disgusted to the point of nausea. Spend 30 minutes some time researching corporate beef (or pork or poultry) operations, and the first thing you’ll discover is that they’re guarded like Fort Knox. Secondly, if you a break through the 3rd Reich defense mechanisms, you’ll find just how unsanitarily your food is treated, right up to the point where they dump the ammonia mixture in to bleach out all the poisonous toxins. Hopefully.
How many cases of mad cow disease have been reported on local grass fed beef farms in the US? Zero.
Fear the icky local neighbor at your own risk, because the sleek corporate stranger is doing things you’d never imagine.
I know this is mostly a beef discussion.. But poultry and rabbit does not have to be inspected. I work at a rabbit farm sometimes where we butcher the rabbits next to the barn, wash them and freeze them, then sell them. Chickens can be done the same way. No inspections, but perfectly legal.
Associated Press: OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The main producer of “pink slime” and the politicians defending the company will have a hard time persuading consumers and grocery stores to accept the product, even if the processed beef trimmings are as safe as the industry insists.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PINK_SLIME_PLANT_TOUR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Table 50 also has a certified angus burger on their lunch and dinner menus that they grind in house from the trimmings of their filet and ribeye… yum!!!
A good opinion piece on “pink slime”.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/the-pink-menace/?ref=dining
Some excerpts from the story.
“Yet the public outcry over pink slime is justified, encouraging and impressively effective. (The response by some food safety officials that it’s misguided, and that only “experts” should be determining how food is processed, is shameful.[3]) And this is how it’s going to be from now on; public pressure will increasingly determine policy, and not only in food: “Before the Internet,” says Bill Marler, a food safety lawyer, “companies and governments simply made decisions, assuming the public didn’t need to know or even care what was in their food. That is no longer the case.”
“The United States food system may seem more palatable when “pink slime” and many other forms of chemical processing are gone, but it won’t be any safer until we begin to seriously address the reasons they exist in the first place.”