Pink Slime in Schools Addressed by Meat Industry Group
The issue of pink slime in school lunches has been a matter of increasing public interest, as it was revealed last week that the USDA approved the purchase of seven million lbs. of the substance for school lunches across the US.
The news of the pink slime’s approval for school lunches came weeks after McDonald’s and other fast food purveyors pledged to no longer use the controversial filler substance in their products. Pink slime is a colloquialism coined by microbiologists for a product formerly only used in dog food and similar products, consisting of what used to be considered unusable beef trimmings- treated with ammonium hydroxide to reduce the risk of contamination by bacteria like E. coli and salmonella.
Pink slime has attracted a lot of negative attention in the past week, but food industry group The American Meat Institute has commented on the controversy, confirming that the substance is indeed… meat. And safe, they allege:
“The fact is, BPI’s Lean Beef Trimmings (BLBT) is beef. The beef trimmings that are used to make BLBT are absolutely edible. In fact, no process can somehow make inedible meat edible; it’s impossible. In reality, the BLBT production process simply removes fat and makes the remaining beef more lean and suited to a variety of beef products that satisfy consumers’ desire for leaner foods.”
The group continues on, saying that using the product is the “right thing to do” because it avoids waste:
“In fact, BLBT is a sustainable product because it recovers lean meat that would otherwise be wasted. The beef industry is proud to efficiently produce as much lean meat as possible from the cattle we raise. It’s the right thing to do and it ensures that our products remain as affordable as we can make them while helping to feed America and the world.”
Do you think the meat industry wants to push pink slime on kids because it feeds more people, or do you think it has more to do with increasing profitability?
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About the Author
Kim LaCapria Kim LaCapria is a writer and editor based in New York. A longtime information junkie, she began blogging full-time at the Inquisitr in 2009. Prior to that, she worked as a marketing assistant in the cosmetics and skincare industry. In addition to her writing for fortytwotimes, she also writes for Medacity and The Inquisitr. Kim is also a contributor for SocialNewsDaily, Indyposted, and TotallyMoney. In the past, she contributed to Lipstick and Luxury and managed social media accounts and blogs for several small and mid-sized businesses.
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