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Governors to tour plant where 'pink slime' is made
AP/WorldMag ^ | Mar 27, 8:49 PM EDT | KRISTI EATON

Posted on 03/27/2012 7:01:47 PM PDT by quantim

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- The leaders of five states plan a visit to the only place where a beef product known as "pink slime" is still made, an effort aimed to support its embattled manufacturer, a company spokesman said Tuesday.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and Texas Gov. Rick Perry will visit the one Beef Products Inc. plant that's still in operation to combat misconceptions and misinformation about the company and its "lean, finely textured beef" product, company spokesman Rich Jochum said.

They'll be joined at the South Sioux City, Neb., plant on Thursday by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, Nebraska Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy and South Dakota Lt. Governor Matt Michels.

Dakota Dunes, S.D.-based Beef Products said Monday it is suspending operations at plants in Texas, Kansas and Iowa where it makes the low-cost beef ingredient from fatty bits of meat left over from other cuts.

The bits are heated and spun to remove most of the fat, and the lean mix then is compressed into blocks and exposed to ammonium hydroxide gas to kill bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella. The result is a product, which has been used for years and meets federal food safety standards, that is as much as 97 percent lean beef.

Critics call the product an unappetizing example of industrialized food production and dub it "pink slime."

(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: pinkslime
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To: agrarianlady

By the reasoning of that poster, if you take the feet and tail of a pig, boil it and add it to a picnic ham before grinding it for sausage, everything but the ham is “filler”.


41 posted on 03/27/2012 8:20:10 PM PDT by netmilsmom (I am Breitbart)
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To: KarlInOhio

That is exactly right.

Like I said, we mix in Tofu, egg and cheese (THOSE are fillers). It makes fine patties. I’m not sure how good it is plain. It’s great for tacos though.


42 posted on 03/27/2012 8:22:42 PM PDT by netmilsmom (I am Breitbart)
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To: MetaThought

There’s always room for Jello. XD


43 posted on 03/27/2012 8:23:59 PM PDT by netmilsmom (I am Breitbart)
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To: quantim

The 4th branch of government needs is butt put in a sling.


44 posted on 03/27/2012 8:24:57 PM PDT by Clock King (Ellisworth Toohey was right: My head's gonna explode.)
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To: netmilsmom
Get in real close and read the label. The 25% is fat. The rest is BEEF. The parts that they couldn’t get from between the bones, the less desirable cuts and then it’s all chopped up, treated for E. Coli and packaged in those cute tubes.

No, "lean, finely textured beef" product is being added to ground beef as a filler. FILLER. What aren't you getting about this? The 25% isn't fat. It is the approximate amount of "lean, finely textured beef" added to the 75% ground beef made the old fashioned way.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46833528/ns/local_news-fort_wayne_in/t/kroger-no-longer-sell-ground-beef-containing-pink-slime/

Kroger No Longer to Sell Ground Beef Containing Pink Slime

Supermarket chains Kroger Co. and Stop & Shop say they’ll be joining the growing list of store chains that will no longer sell beef that includes an additive "pink slime."

See the words consistently used? Containing, Additive, Filler. Is it making sense now? You aren't buying a tube of "lean, finely textured beef". The stuff is added into ground beef made the way most consumers assumed. It is beef, it is probably safe, but the process is very unappetizing and people are simply rejecting it. They'd have avoided it all along if they'd known.

45 posted on 03/27/2012 8:25:16 PM PDT by Longbow1969
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To: Longbow1969

Holy crap, READ THE LABEL!!!!
It says 75% beef, !!!25% fat!!!. IT’S ON the LABEL. Hello!

You’re quoting MSNBC and expecting any credence? LOLOL!!!

Good night. I have to go make my hubby’s PB&J. Enjoy your Grain Fed Beef.


46 posted on 03/27/2012 8:30:04 PM PDT by netmilsmom (I am Breitbart)
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To: netmilsmom
It says 75% beef, !!!25% fat!!!. IT’S ON the LABEL. Hello!

I'm not talking about your label. I was talking about what percentage of "pink slime" is in ground beef that contains "lean, finely textured beef" product. The answer is approximately 25% or less. You have no idea what you are even talking about. You seem to think you've been buying "lean, finely textured beef" product (aka pink slime) as a stand alone product. You have not been. It is an additive, a filler, something mixed into the ground beef made the old fashion way. The stuff is 90-94% lean anyway. Any "tube" of ground beef that is 75% lean couldn't possibly be "lean, finely textured beef" product even if they sold it that way (which they don't).

You’re quoting MSNBC and expecting any credence? LOLOL!!!

Your wrong and you are either too dense to realize it or won't admit it. You've now rejected the Christian Science Monitor, Wikipedia, MSNBC, and it is obvious that you will not accept any link I give you as evidence that you are completely incorrect and simply don't understand the issue. I could have pulled any of 100 stories from CNN, FOX, or anywhere else explaining that "lean, finely textured beef" product is a filler, an additive, something ground beef "contains". It is not a stand alone product. When it is added to ground beef, "lean, finely textured beef" only makes up about 25% (at most) of the final product.

Enjoy your Grain Fed Beef.

Thank you, I will. Enjoy your "lean, finely textured beef" product filler while you can still get it. Though it does look to me like the public has rejected it and it will go back to being used exclusively in dog/animal feed.

47 posted on 03/27/2012 8:47:22 PM PDT by Longbow1969
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To: Longbow1969
"lean, finely textured beef" product is a filler, an additive,

The reality is that gelatin is actually very good for wrinkles and joints among other things. But I guess I shouldn't fight so hard, because if nobody uses pink slime, then gelatin prices will fall.

48 posted on 03/27/2012 9:10:50 PM PDT by MetaThought
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To: quantim

I am 5th gen cowman...I am the first of my family NOT to raise cattle (but I grew up on the family’s ranch). My uncle used to (before the gov came down on small biz to drive the packing biz down to 5 companies), owned a meat (beef) packing company. They made/sold everything from halves to ground beef

I know an awful lot about beef.

And LTGB is NOT what you want/expect from ground beef.

It’s so low quality of cuts that it’s not acceptable for the low-end hot dogs (beef).
Think about that. There is an old saying about cheap hot dogs....they are made of lips and #$@holes. FTGB, by definition are those fleshy areas that are highly contaminated with e-coli (don’t think i should go further here).

The only solution is to kill the bacteria. That leaves you with a few options

1) Radioactive (most americans would not like that)
2) Chemical (man-made) — like Ammonium
3) Chemical (natural) — like Citrus oil

Next time you are in the store, and pick out some low-quality hamburger that is probably colored with dye, when you get home, give it the smell test. If it smells like urine, then draw your own conclusions about whether or not it’s had ammonium added (hint - the bladder of the cow can’t comtaminate 1500 lbs of meat to that extent!)

BTW, also, you might hear about when selecting steaks to look for “marbleing”.....HA HA! That’s the OLDEST trick in the BEEF BOOK!
You take an old beef cow at the end her prime, put her in the pen and feed her high protein feed and antibiotics for 45 days and she marbles out real pretty.....Nice layers of fat between meat layers that’s tough as a boot!

The rancher gets pennys for his product, and you get charged big bucks. WHY?
Because the government drove the small guy out the business. This “small guy” however, is doing unethical things with beef. It’s tarnishing the reputation of “100% American Beef”.

here’s what GONNA happen. Look for Beef (in the store) prices to collapse in the net 3-6 months. Why? BECAUSE PEOPLE DON”T WANT PISS IN THIER MEAT!

So they traded SH&T for PISS! That’s an improvement? As for me, I want neither. I prefer to eat a little less quantity, at a better quality.
If you want cheap protein, look for eggs or pork.


49 posted on 03/27/2012 9:27:15 PM PDT by BereanBrain
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To: netmilsmom
I think that conservatives need to keep this company in business.

I hunt and dress animals, and have slaughtered cows & pigs. Hunters and farmers carefully avoid the bowels of animals, because that is where the E Coli is that this specific process kills. E Coli is found in the lower intestines, in the poop.

If you are comfortable eating food that is contaminated with what is found in the bowels of animals, go for it. We know that it is contaminated, because that is what the process the trimmings undergo is specifically meant to kill. The ammonia gas is specifically to kill the E Coli, and it works most of the time.

Eating poop is not conservative.

I do not settle for seconds when it comes to my family, as they are the most important gifts God has given me. They are worth more than all the beef trimmings in the world.

50 posted on 03/27/2012 11:37:01 PM PDT by mountainbunny (Seamus Sez: "Good dogs don't let their masters vote for Mitt!")
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To: mountainbunny
Eating poop is not conservative.

But selling the country the crap sandwich known as Obamacare IS liberal.

51 posted on 03/27/2012 11:42:19 PM PDT by JediJones (The Divided States of Obama's Declaration of Dependence: Death, Taxes and the Pursuit of Crappiness)
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To: netmilsmom
This is perfectly good beef. It’s all hype. If anyone thinks that the beef they get in a roll for 1.29 a pound is USDA prime, they are naive.

Then label it as such as call it even. Ground beef is um, beef which has been ground. This is a slurry that is made from trimmings, is contaminated with E Coli, and is treated to remove the contamination.

E Coli comes from the lower intestines of animals. That is disgusting and nasty. I have slaughtered animals and this is what farmers and hunters go to great efforts to avoid at all costs.

52 posted on 03/27/2012 11:42:49 PM PDT by mountainbunny (Seamus Sez: "Good dogs don't let their masters vote for Mitt!")
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To: mountainbunny; netmilsmom
Then label it as such as call it even. Ground beef is um, beef which has been ground. This is a slurry that is made from trimmings, is contaminated with E Coli, and is treated to remove the contamination.

E Coli comes from the lower intestines of animals. That is disgusting and nasty. I have slaughtered animals and this is what farmers and hunters go to great efforts to avoid at all costs.

What if they call it "beef slurry" instead of FTGB?

In 1993 there were some deaths resulting from E. coli poisoning, linked to hamburger supplied to a certain fast-food chain.. That was the end of the "cheap beef" used by that chain, I guess. Was it the "pink slime" referenced here?

If you want real ground beef, and want to be absolutely sure of what you're getting, most butchers will take the chuck roast you pick out and bone and grind it for you.

53 posted on 03/28/2012 12:30:22 AM PDT by thecodont
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To: netmilsmom

I’ve known about pink slime for years, long before ABC reported on it. I instead feed my family meats that have been processed in a local, clean facility so that the E. coli threat is minimal. It is actually much safter than meat treated with the ammonia-laden pink slime. I know my farmer and I know my butcher. They feed meat from the same animals to their families, they are not illegal alients who could give a damn about food safety and quality. Also, the meat isn’t injected with up to 20% saline like the grocery store meats. We had burgers on the grill at a friend’s house last weekend and I could hardly eat the burger. It tasted so bland, and all he kept bragging about was Angus beef. Well I don’t buy Angus from our farmer, just regualar beef, and the flavor is wonderful. I could never go back to the grocery store stuff again just for flavor alone, let alone the additives that they put our food.


54 posted on 03/28/2012 3:23:09 AM PDT by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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To: goodwithagun

Ditto to much of your post. I personally know the farmer who supplies my beef. know the couple who own the processing house where that steer becomes the meat for my freezer. I know what that steer has eaten and how it was treated from birth to our plates.
The beef we get from them is unequaled in tenderness and taste.


55 posted on 03/28/2012 3:34:59 AM PDT by kalee (The offenses we give, we write in the dust; Those we take, we engrave in marble. J Huett 1658)
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To: netmilsmom

Holy crap! I just got a chance to read through this thread and your a loon. The tubes of beef you are buying are not tubes of lean textured beef, aka pink slime. You are buying tubes of ground beef that has pink slime added to it. The pink slime is made from trimmings that used to go to animal food production, but now some chemicals are added to it that are capable of killing E. coli. BPI was able to get the gubmint to approve of the pink slime as beef so that they do not have to put it on the label. This is a conservative sight and we generally question our government when they make such decisions. If it’s so good, why did they get double secret permission to label it a different name from what it is? If it is so good, why not tell the world the amazing story of pink slime and how awesome it is at preventing E. coli?

So to recap: You are not buying a tube, or any container shape, of pink slime. You are buying ground beef that has this added to it.


56 posted on 03/28/2012 3:37:47 AM PDT by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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To: kalee
Lol, our farmer gave us some beef to try. He said the steer was mighty riled up when they got him to the butcher and he was afraid the taste would be off. Nothing like knowing all about the process, from start to finish! We get our eggs from them too and I can't even buy eggs from the store. The store-bought eggs’ yolks look anemic.
57 posted on 03/28/2012 3:44:15 AM PDT by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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To: All

another hyped up campaign to further another democrat leftist cause. when are people going to wake up to what they’re doing?

When I was a butcher twenty years ago, the price of ground beef varied from $2.29 (on sale) to $5.99 regular price. Today, with inflation the cost of beef was $2.99 (on sale) and $5.49 regular price. Boneless chicken has fared better with the price for customers actually going down.
How does everyone this this happened? They found more ways to use more of the cow and better ways of growing chickens faster.
I remember that we would throw some of this stuff in the barrel for animal processing but it seemed like a waste. I see they came up with a way to process that perfectly good product for human consumption. It’s 100% pure beef, just processed more.

This will do absolutely nothing towards making us safer and will result in nothing but higher prices.

There is a reason it’s called “processing” and not “flower arrangement” they people that do it are called “butchers” and not florists.


58 posted on 03/28/2012 3:54:07 AM PDT by newnhdad (Soylent green is people..)
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To: goodwithagun; netmilsmom
So to recap: You are not buying a tube, or any container shape, of pink slime. You are buying ground beef that has this added to it.

Thank you! I have tried to explain this over and over to netmilsmom throughout this entire thread, yet for some reason this member simply refuses to understand the facts and apparently won't accept any source of information that could further explain what "lean, finely textured beef" product actually is and how it is ADDED to ground beef as a FILLER.

If I had to guess, when stores (Kroger in this persons case) started yanking anything with "pink slime" from their shelves her favorite "tube" of ground beef vanished and she thought that meant the whole thing was "pink slime". Apparently our stubborn forum member simply doesn't understand what she was buying was ground beef with "lean, finely textured beef" (aka pink slime) filler added to it.

So to repeat one more time, "lean, finely textured beef" is an additive, a filler. It is not a stand alone product. If it were so wonderful it would be, but it isn't.

59 posted on 03/28/2012 5:14:38 AM PDT by Longbow1969
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To: goodwithagun

Um, sorry. YOU bought the hype

This is from the Beef Products site
http://beefproducts.com/why_its_good.php


60 posted on 03/28/2012 5:42:31 AM PDT by netmilsmom (I am Breitbart)
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