Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by chromas on Friday February 15 2019, @03:10PM   Printer-friendly
from the squash-the-beef dept.

https://newfoodeconomy.org/bpi-pink-slime-ground-beef-usda-reclassifed/

Beef Products Inc. (BPI), the South Dakota-based meat processing company at the center of 2012’s “pink slime” controversy, just won a long-sought semantic victory. For years, the company has argued that its signature product is safe, wholesome, and not unlike everyday burger meat. Now, BPI has enlisted a powerful ally in its effort to recoup its image and reclassify its product: the federal government.

After a months-long evaluation, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) determined in December that BPI’s signature product—the offering famously called “pink slime” in an ABC News exposé that got the network in a lot of trouble—can be labeled “ground beef.” Legally speaking, it’s now no different from ordinary hamburger, and could even be sold directly to the public.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by edIII on Friday February 15 2019, @09:05PM (3 children)

    by edIII (791) on Friday February 15 2019, @09:05PM (#801772)

    This may be a little bit overblown. Technically, it really is ground beef. There are no bones, and unlike some other meat byproducts (hot dogs), doesn't contain non-meat. Allegedly it's advanced recovery processes not unlike using your teeth to get at the very last scraps of meat on a rib. Centrifuges and heat remove nearly all the fat. The controversial part of it is the ammonia. The pink slime aspect comes from how the meat trimmings were processed, and that's the unappealing part, and most of the controversy too. As an additive it had benefits because of the anti-microbial properties, although it's debatable if we want our food to really start having that considering how super-bugs evolve. Reducing the fat content is a good thing anyway. If they removed the antimicrobial part, this would just be an additive that makes the hamburger patty have less fat. For some people, the antimicrobial part really is a bonus considering how much E. Coli sucks ass. Makes the cooking environment a little more forgiving.

    I think pink slime is much less controversial than adding "cellulose fiber", aka wood particles. Even then I object to the labeling and pricing, and daring to deliver me something that isn't 100% hamburger. Yet at the same time, appreciative they found even another way to make the hamburger a little more healthy with the added fiber. If I was eating hamburgers multiple times per week though, I know I would better off with the additives.

    All of that being said, if I'm going to blow my diet for a hamburger anyways, it's not going to be a health conscious one filled with additives. Healthy or not.

    --
    Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Informative=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   3  
  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 15 2019, @11:07PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 15 2019, @11:07PM (#801809)

    What is "meat" anyway? If you mean muscle fibers, then even a sirloin steak isn't meat. Clearly, it is allowable to have non-muscle.

    The trouble here is that the ratio has changed. You can even see it in the color. Pink slime is loaded with connective tissue.

    That in turn changes the ratio of amino acids and the amount of iron. There is a real nutritional difference.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 16 2019, @06:10AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 16 2019, @06:10AM (#801959)

    Reducing the fat is good?!?!? Do you also take your steaks well done?

    • (Score: 2) by edIII on Saturday February 16 2019, @11:13PM

      by edIII (791) on Saturday February 16 2019, @11:13PM (#802233)

      No you illiterate dipshit. Read the bottom sentence where I very clearly said that my hamburger wouldn't be anywhere in the vicinity of health conscious food.

      --
      Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.