Are You Eating Pink Slime?

There are additives in everything, it seems.  But one that thoroughly disgusts me is Pink Slime.

Some companies take all the trimmings from beef...How are they collected and how long are they held, I cannot attest to.  But, they put these trimmings into a container(a centrifuge?) with heat and they cook out most of the fat.  Then they gas the stuff with ammonia or citric acid to kill the bacteria...why do you need to kill bacteria in beef if it is fresh and wholesome to begin with?  Then they put it in your ground beef as if it was fresh beef, and sell it to you. 

This is not universal, and many stores do not do it, but you should be suspicious enough, if this disgusts you as it does me, to ask the meat department at your supermarket.  They call it LEAN FINELY TEXTURED BEEF, and you may have to refer to it that way.
 
It started out as pet food, and later it was approved for LIMITED HUMAN CONSUMPTION and it could not be in more than a 25% ratio to fresh beef or any other product.

I do not know about you, but I always look at cheap beef and beef products with a suspicious eye.  Even cheap beef is sooo expensive these days, with scarce and expensive feed and limited pasture land.

I really resent this deception.

I know it will never happen, but I am always sniffing my hamburger now, wondering if I will detect a faint odor of ammonia....it just FREAKS ME OUT!!!!!

We should, of course, be restricting our meat intake anyway, especially red meat.  We are slowly killing ourselves.  The Italians never...or perhaps rarely, provide large cuts of meat at the table.  It is more like a condiment than a main food item. 

We should take a hint from them on meat servings, and always ask your butcher about the pink slime situation in their meat.

Also, make a point about asking at your school....are they feeding this crap to your kids?