My take on the "Pink Slime" controversy...

[Archae]

First off, it's not "pink slime."

It's filler made from meat scraps.

The ammonia used to kill the e-coli bacteria doesn't stay in the meat.

I know what it is, it's filler. It's not some big "conspiracy," or plot to make us fat or kill us.

Yet another alar non-controversy blown wayyyyy out of proportion...

[gateley]

1. My take is that they do far too many things with/to our food of which we're unaware.

Is there a NEED for pink slime? If not, it shouldn't be there.

It may have been blown out of proportion but I'm glad we learned about it. We should have a CHOICE.

[Laurian]

13. Absolutely.

[DJ13]

2. Yep, its filler

But, should there be filler in the meat?

Thats the big (unasked) question, isnt it?

Most people dont expect what amounts to third rate scraps that once was only used in animal food to now make up a significant portion of the meat we buy for our families.

[Archae]

4. That's just it.

They used to only use those scraps for dog food.
They have since developed a way to make it safe for human consumption.

The real questions:

Is it safe? The answer according to all credible evidence is yes, it is safe.

I saw one report on CNN (I haven't seen it repeated yet however,) that one of the former USDA scientists who lambasted the filler has converted to full vegetarianism.

This was never mentioned on ABC news, and so far no one is checking into this.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

18. When they can show me it has any nutritional value then I might consider it

until then it's a cheap imitation of the real meat I thought I was buying.

[gateley]

20. I don't agree that the real question is "Is it safe?".

The real question is what the hell is it doing in our meat? We don't pay for filler. I don't buy a banana that has filler in it -- I want a damn banana. I want real meat, all meat, no filler.

And I don't trust their proclamations of safe. Look at all the drugs (and additives and artificial sweeteners) that they have deemed safe, only to find out later on well oops, guess it wasn't all that safe.

Why would you trust these people? In this industry, as well as others, it's the Big Money calling the shots and controlling our lives, all in the name of profit.

[CBGLuthier]

3. It is grotesque and wrong

Only an idiotic greedy capitalist would come up with such a disgusting thing.

[Archae]

5. Why?

Why is it "disgusting?"

[titaniumsalute]

7. I agree with you in a way

Why is it gross? We eat the meat from the bones of animals. That's kind of gross if you think about it. (I love it so I won't stop eating meat.) So isn't it even more responsible to eat more of the animal (like Native Americans did) than to throw it away because it is perceived as gross. Some people like liver. Some people think it's gross because it is a filtering system of an animal. Some people eat beef tongue. Others think it is gross. One man's "gross" is another's treasure.

[cherokeeprogressive]

24. Ever heard of Scrapple? It's "everything but the OINK". And it's GOOOOOOD.

I like it with just enough maple syrup to give it that maple flavor.

[izquierdista]

8. Because you saw it being made

Now head cheese, blood sausage, liver pate, braunschweiger, and chitterlings, they aren't disgusting because they come in a nice package in the refrigerated section of the supermarket.

[Archae]

9. I don't like any of those.

Simply because I don't like the taste.

I have seen videos of how those are made, and I have handled raw liver.

But I love liver and onions.

This whole "pink slime" thing is being overblown for ratings.

[Gibby]

11. What is being OVERBLOWN

is chunks -- from people who have been suckered by corporate food into slurping up Pink Slime.


Help yourself to all the Pink Slime Chunks you want, Archae -- but you convince only the feeble minded that this --formerly hidden from the consumer - crap is fit for human consumption.

Enjoy your pink slime. Give me real meat.

[izquierdista]

14. Real meat? How about a nice piece of hakarl?

[Archae]

19. Eeeewww...

[Drahthaardogs]

6. Except...

My grandfather was an Italian butcher. I KNOW how to process a beef. There are lots and lots of cuts on a carcass that are not suitable table fare for steaks or chops, hence you grind them. It has always been this way. most of the should, neck, arm, and calf muscles are really only good for grinidng. Also, old cancer-eyed beef are routinely ground in entirety, as are bulls with broken penises. There is no NEED to do this. There is no COST savings to do this. This is just corporate greed showing its ugly head yet again.

[KarenS]

10. It bothers me that they fundamentally changed something

and did not bother to tell us or require that it be listed on the packaging. If I'm buying ground beef with filler then I want to know about it so that I have a choice.

Sorry, but I think it is a big deal and I don't think anything was blown out of proportion.

[ThomThom]

21. the beef industry is so powerful that they don't have to tell what is in their products

they put all kinds of chemicals in the animal before slaughter and tenderizers after. These tenderizers include lactic acid that is a milk product and people with sensitivities and allergies to dairy are not informed.

[MichiganVote]

12. No thanks.

[Wind Dancer]

15. I disagree!

Eat at your own risk.

[wickerwoman]

16. It's meat scraps from the outside of the intestinal cavity

which, before they were sprayed with ammonia, were full of e-coli and other nasties and were labelled not fit for human consumption.

It may be a "safe" process but "safe" processes break down (especially when corporatist greedheads are running them) and e-coli is a potentially fatal nasty as is mad cow disease.

Is that a risk I'm willing to take for .50/pound off my hamburger? I don't know. But I sure as hell think it's a risk I should be informed about before I take it. Don't you?

[gateley]

22. It's like animal food -- the cheapest, diseased, cancerous animals used, then totally torqued to kil

all the bad stuff. That's why so many vitamins and nutrients have to be added in -- they've killed any good stuff in the effort to kill the bad stuff.

Kind of like chemotherapy for food -- and that's how I view what they do to pink slime.

I wouldn't take chemotherapy if I didn't need it, why should we eat this stuff if we don't need it?

[Speck Tater]

17. Let's face facts

All plants co-evolve with insect and vertebrate enemies that harm those plants, and so they evolve defense mechanisms to protect themselves from their natural enemies. In other words, toxins. Some plants use powerful toxins that kill anything that eats them, and other plants use much gentler toxins to discourage animals from munching on them.

But the fact is, every natural plant contains some toxins, and every animal that ingests those plants contains some toxins. Those toxins may very well be what causes aging. In fact, we won't have a truly healthy diet until we are eating a diet made up entirely of synthetic food! You call it "pink slime", I call it the wave of the future. The first step toward our new garden of Eden when we thrive like we have never thrived before on a diet that comes exclusively from the laboratory and from the factory, and not from the germ and toxin laden filthy dirt.

[provis99]

23. I guess if I pay for ground chuck, I don't really want ground assholes and lips.

If I want to buy ground assholes and lips, I'll go to Taco Bell.