McDonald’s is forced to stop using ‘pink slime’ in its burger recipe

UK Daily Mail ^ | January 26, 2012 | Jill Reilly

[WXRGina]

After years of trying to break America, Jamie Oliver has finally made his mark by persuading one of the biggest U.S fast food chains in the world to change their burger recipe.

McDonald's have altered the ingredients after the Naked Chef forced them to remove a processed food type that he labelled 'pink slime'. The food activist was shocked when he learned that ammonium hydroxide was being used by McDonald's to convert fatty beef offcuts into a beef filler for its burgers in the USA. The filler product made headlines after he denounced it on his show, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.

'Basically, we’re taking a product that would be sold at the cheapest form for dogs and after this process we can give it to humans' said the TV chef.

[GeronL]

does I/O have a dollar menu?

[enraged]

Their (Mcd’s) breakfast sandwhiches are pretty OK, the BK around here serves re-mirowaved crap on a soggy bun and acts like you should thank them for it. If you can understand what the hell they are saying in the first place.

I don’t go often, enough to have a preference tho’

[freedumb2003]

>>In n Out? Ugh .... no thanks.<<

You are the very first human being I have ever heard that didn’t like In-N-Out.

Oh well, everybody doesn’t like something. OTOH, every time I post I despise Merly Streep, the Streepers act like I said I hated Ronald Reagan.

Not thread drifting, just showing that so much of life is a matter of taste and that should be accepted — but I can 100% guarantee In-N-Out uses all fresh ingredients.

[Jonty30]

The best burgers in my town is Mario’s.

But the best mass-produced hamburger I find is Harvey’s. I honestly never get tired of it.

So far. :)

[liberalh8ter]

No In -n- Out in Florida. We had a couple of Whataburger stands in Orlando but they're gone. Wish In - n - Out would come down here!

[Harold Shea]

Wonder if they still serve #$it on a shingle in todays army

Still though,the first time I saw stuffed green peppers

I thought...naw,still love `em today

Mickey D trying to save a coupla pennies a burger by

using a worthless cut .I`m shocked/Sarc

[who_would_fardels_bear]

Tastes even better medium rare, and not overcooked as pictured in the ad!

[morphing libertarian]

Steak n Shake?

[rabidralph]

I visited California several years ago and had a Johnny Rocket burger. It was great! Red Robin makes great burgers, too. Yes, I’m hungry!

[SiVisPacemParaBellum]

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

“In-N-Out is probably the one thing I really wish California would export.”

They have expanded to a few other Western states, and I think they recently opened their first store in Texas.

[Twinkie]

We’re on a low sodium diet due to health issues; and I am starving for a cheeseburger, fries and a Coke. Where can I find a low sodium cheeseburger, fries and a Coke?

[Slump Tester]

Hmmm... The old in-n-out!

[freedumb2003]

>>Steak n Shake?<<

I am going to try it for the first time this weekend. Stay tuned for a report...

[Jonty30]

Unless it’s immediately fatal, I think there’s always room in the diet for the occasional cheating.

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

True, but I will say this: After watching one of his shows where he was trying to get school kids to eat healthier, in which he demonstrated how chicken nuggets are made, there’s no way in hell I will ever eat chicken nuggets again.

When I was getting into cooking, I used to watch him and Alton Brown a lot. But Jamie’s just gotten really annoying over the years.

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

“does I/O have a dollar menu?”

Nope. They probably have the most basic menu in the fast-food biz these days - just burgers, fries, shakes and soft drinks.

Of course there’s also the “secret” menu (variations on the aforementioned burgers, fries and shakes), which at least in California is probably the worst-kept secret in the restaurant industry. :)

[vette6387]

Up in Napa, CA the In-N-Out Burger is right next to the local Mc Crappies. With all the business at IOB and the lack of same at McD’s, I am wondering when IOB is going to buy them out and open an overflow location. I’ve eaten the IOB at midnight and the drive thru is still backed up, while McD’s is already closed for lack of business. Personally, I would rather go hungry than eat anything at Mickey D’s!

[Praxeologue]

We’re on a low sodium diet due to health issues; and I am starving for a cheeseburger, fries and a Coke. Where can I find a low sodium cheeseburger,

All meat and seafood has 50 to 100 milligrams of sodium per serving, plus an equivalent amount of cholesterol.

[Zhang Fei]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Slime

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The typical beef production process results in beef trimmings, consisting of fat and meat, that frequently had been cooked down to recover the oils from the trim because it was not profitable to otherwise separate the meat from the trimmings. However, today much of these beef trimmings are sent as USDA-approved cuts of meat to special separation plants, where centrifuges separate the beef from the trimmings.[3]

The production process was pioneered by Eldon Roth, who in the 1980s founded Beef Products Inc., to produce frozen beef. In the 1990s, in the wake of public health concerns over pathogenic E. coli in beef, Roth developed a process to use a puff of ammonia gas to raise the pH and kill any pathogens that may be found in beef trimmings purchased from other meat production houses.[4]

Nancy Donley, president of Safe Tables Our Priority, Carol Tucker Foreman of the Consumer Federation of America’s Food Safety Institute, and other food safety experts support the technology-based approach to food safety.[3]

Food safety experts in 2011 acknowledged the role of such processes in protecting the United States’ food supply against events such as the European E. Coli outbreak.[5]
...
According to the Washington Post, the process involves taking USDA-approved beef trimmings, separating the fat and meat with centrifuges, then squeezing the lean beef through a tube the size of a pencil, during which time it is exposed “for less than a second to a tiny amount of ammonia gas.” The combination of the gas with water in the meat results in a reaction that increases the pH, lowering acidity and killing any pathogens such as E. coli.[3] Ammonia is used extensively in the food industry and is found naturally in meat.[1] The gas BPI uses contains a tiny fraction of the ammonia that’s used in household cleaner, according to the company.[1]

These production processes have received accolades from consumer safety experts for their cleanliness, safeguards, hold and test programs, and overall sanitation. A former buyer for major consumer brands, John Hayes, was quoted by the Washington Post as saying, “There is no better sales tool than Beef Products Inc’s plant” because of the focus on stainless steel and sanitized air [WP]. Bill Marler, noted food safety advocate and plaintiff’s lawyer has expressed similar sentiment. After touring the BPI plant, he described it as “the Willy Wonka of meat factories—lots of dials and whirling stuff, all stainless steel and immaculately clean.”[6]

In July, 2011, Beef Products Inc. announced that it would become the first beef processor to voluntarily begin testing for an additional six strains of E. Coli.[7] According to the New York Times, the launch of this type of testing stems from the recent E. coli outbreak in Europe and frustration at delays by regulators to classify new types of E. coli as adulterants.[8]

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