Stomach Churning School Lunches

It's worth noting that fast-food giants known for playing loose with ethical health boundaries have stopped using "pink slime" in their recipes. Burger King, McDonald's, and Taco Bell all dropped the "ingredient" earlier this year according to The Daily. But the FDA has absolutely no problem feeding the dreck to your children. 

[The Daily] The USDA, which plans to buy 7 million pounds of Lean Beef Trimmings from BPI in the coming months for the national school lunch program, said in a statement that all of its ground beef purchases “meet the highest standard for food safety.” USDA officials also noted that the sole role of the food inspection service is to determine the overall safety of the nation’s food supply, not to make judgments on a product’s relative merits.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver blew the lid off the ingredient the beef industry dubbed "soylent pink" back in the late 1990's by showing his ardent viewers how "pink slime" is manufactured.  

[The Daily] Made by grinding together connective tissue and beef scraps normally destined for dog food and rendering, BPI’s Lean Beef Trimmings are then treated with ammonia hydroxide, a process that kills pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli.

If you are following along, you've probably figured out that this pink goo is then mixed into real beef as a low-cost filler. Disgusting.

Be sure to click through to the photos. The second photo of a "pink slime" processing plant in Sioux City Nebraska will make your stomach turn.

[hork]