USDA: Meat derided as “pink slime” can now be called ground beef

saltwn · #1 (**permalink**) 02-13-2019, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Since the 2012 controversy erupted, BPI has been working together with its supporters—namely governors of states with meat-packing plants—to spread the message that lean finely textured beef is beef. To that end, it created a slogan: “Dude, it’s beef.” After years of campaigning from BPI, it appears the USDA agrees. The New Food Economy notes that for now, there’s no plan for BPI to sell its product directly to customers; shoppers won’t walk into a store and see jars of lean finely textured beef in coolers. It’s still just being used as a component of ground beef products, but the USDA’s decision does potentially open the door to BPI products sold directly to consumers as “ground beef.”

Therefore, some within the meat industry have criticized the USDA’s decision, saying it will make consumers nervous about beef products and could even open the door for lab-grown or cell-based meat to be labeled ground beef. If you’re interested in learning more about this topic (and who isn’t!), that New Food Economy article is required reading.

Quote:

Lean finely textured beef is the result of a mechanical process that begins with beef trimmings. As The New Food Economy outlines in a thorough explanation of this process, about a third of a cattle’s weight is trimmings, or fatty portions of meat that slaughterhouse workers separate from the muscle with knives. Beef Products Incorporated then heats those trimmings and passes them through a centrifuge, which divides the fat from the small portion of meat in the trimmings. Fat can be sold as tallow, while the small remaining portion of lean meat is what’s been referred to as lean finely textured beef, or “pink slime” to its critics. The UDSA has previously allowed this for use as a component of ground beef without any special label; but what changed in December is that the USDA now allows this lean finely textured beef to itself be labeled ground beef. (In Food Inc., a BPI executive claims this ingredient is found in 70 percent of American burgers.)

https://thetakeout.com/usda-pink-sli...SmOfVq1q0jEW6U

Big donor lobbyists

GottaGo · #2 (**permalink**) 02-13-2019, 11:35 AM

Caveat emptor.

Know your food source, know what's in your food, and best of all, know your farmer.

FrancSevin · #3 (**permalink**) 02-13-2019, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GottaGo

Caveat emptor.

Know your food source, know what's in your food, and best of all, know your farmer.

I grind my own from prime cuts. At the end of the day, it is actually cheaper.

The local grocer here sells ground beef 90% lean for $6.95 a lb. It sells boneless round steak for $ 4.99 to $5.99 per lb.

As for Pink slime, it has been in the retail beef stream for decades. It's that little puddle of goo left on the cheap burger when you broil it.

GottaGo · #4 (**permalink**) 02-13-2019, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrancSevin

I grind my own from prime cuts. At the end of the day, it is actually cheaper.

The local grocer here sells ground beef 90% lean for $6.95 a lb. It sells boneless round steak for $ 4.99 to $5.99 per lb.

As for Pink slime, it has been in the retail beef stream for decades. It's that little puddle of goo left on the cheap burger when you broil it.

Grass fed local beef is available from a number of sources. Prices vary, but we haven't bought any yet. Our local grocery store processes their meat in-store, so it's not that dyed stuff you get from WalMart. We pretty much don't buy any meats that are pre-packaged, other than Brats.

saltwn · #5 (**permalink**) 02-13-2019, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GottaGo

Caveat emptor.

Know your food source, know what's in your food, and best of all, know your farmer.

thanks to the FDA we used to know all that stuff. Now that CU is the rule of the land everything has been politicized.
I imagine TR spinning in his grave.

FrancSevin · #6 (**permalink**) 02-13-2019, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GottaGo

Grass fed local beef is available from a number of sources. Prices vary, but we haven't bought any yet. Our local grocery store processes their meat in-store, so it's not that dyed stuff you get from WalMart. We pretty much don't buy any meats that are pre-packaged, other than Brats.

I don't bake bread or make my own pasta but, virtually everything else I cook is from scratch. As For Brats, I'm the only one in the family who can eat pork so , yes, those I will buy.

I miss Christmas ham.

FrancSevin · #7 (**permalink**) 02-13-2019, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltwn

thanks to the FDA we used to know all that stuff. Now that CU is the rule of the land everything has been politicized.
I imagine TR spinning in his grave.

I have no idea who CU is but the FDA/USDA approved "pink slime" decades ago.

saltwn · #8 (**permalink**) 02-13-2019, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrancSevin

I have no idea who CU is but the FDA/USDA approved "pink slime" decades ago.

Citizens United
no it was just called to their attention in a suit or something. they should have ruled you specify what parts of meat are in there if you're gonna allow the sinew that keeps the bone and muscle together and the gelatin in the crevices of cow hooves to be marketed for human consumption. but big donor lobbying lead to this mockery of our protection agency.

it is not hamburger or what we have had confidence is ground beef.

FrancSevin · #9 (**permalink**) 02-13-2019, 01:51 PM

My ancestors used every part of the animals they successfully hunted. Wasted NOTHING!

I'm fine with that.

If you don't want those "by-Products" on your table don't buy the heavily processed cheap stuff.

This is America,,,; YOU HAVE THE CHOICE!

…...at least for now

Gordon Shumway · #10 (**permalink**) 02-13-2019, 02:06 PM

this is the government taking care of you.
it’s the government version of your best interest.

it’s weird when i see lawsuit commercial for drugs or other consumer products going after a manufacturer but not the government agency that approved the product as being safe.
if lawsuits are the result of a bad product approved by a government agency shouidn’t that agency be part of that lawsuit?
and if the government agency tasked with approving products that are safe for the public can’t do that with accuracy is it really a necessary agency?

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