The real truth about pink slime in N.M. schools

Marisa Demarco [ Thu Mar 22 2012 3:49 PM ]

A couple days ago, I stumbled on a story in a Daily Word that said as of July, the state’s public schools would no longer be receiving meat products containing lean finely textured beef. (That’s pink slime.)

That begs the question: Which local districts or schools have been eating the stuff?

Turns out, the state doesn’t know because the USDA didn’t say, according to Matt Kennicott, spokesperson for the Human Services Department.

A 60-pound shipment of beef could contain between 0 and 6 pounds of pink slime. That’s all the information that’s available. The substance is safe for consumption and has no associated health risks, says Kennicott. But since articles began appearing and the term became an Internet meme, the USDA is allowing school distributors to reject pink slime starting in July. Food costs won’t increase, he adds.

No questions were raised previously with the state about what was in school lunches, he says. But it’s likely the USDA will take a closer look at ingredients given the backlash. “And we’ll monitor what we receive,” Kennicott says.

Public Comments (10)

- Mayor McCheese
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Doesn't add up [ Fri Mar 23 2012 10:49 AM ]

Food costs won’t increase, he adds.
If the decision to use meat filler wasn't based on cutting costs, what was the incentive to start using it in the first place? Flavor?
Sounds like the manufacturer got a sweetheart deal with some powerful people. I wonder how much they're getting in return.
Food costs won't increase because [ Fri Mar 23 2012 11:35 AM ]

fat content will also increase.
Schools are given their choice between lean, pink-slimed beef, and fatty, ammonia-free beef.
KRQE: "schools will be able to choose between 95 percent lean beef patties made with the product or less lean bulk ground beef without it"
- Mayor McCheese
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Wholesome goodness [ Fri Mar 23 2012 12:05 PM ]

This is kind of pointing to how we define "healthy" food in the U.S. Fatty sounds bad. Lean sounds good, and so the "healthier alternative" is actually extruded, ammonia-treated meat factory reject scraps.
I'll take fatty and delicious [ Fri Mar 23 2012 12:29 PM ]

over lean, flavorless, and chemical-treated any day of the week.
- marisa
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Just to be clear [ Fri Mar 23 2012 12:44 PM ]

schools around the country are making the choice. We've chosen not to have pink slime at school. So no districts in New Mexico will serve the stuff as of July.
- RuthPlum
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Fat filler is also chemically treated [ Fri Mar 23 2012 2:43 PM ]

if it wasn't there would be tons more ecoli poisoning. Cows are covered in their own crap and have to be "doused" if you will before consumption.
- RuthPlum
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Regarding fat, [ Fri Mar 23 2012 2:53 PM ]

ground beef before it altered is pretty lean (unless you're grinding nicer cuts that contain fat, which is not the case with mainstream hamburger) Ground beef is not all that palatable in its unaltered form. You don't really want to eat it hamburger style without adding some fat of some sort (or in this case pink slime filler with lots of marrow flavor).
Lean meat is for the birds!
- RuthPlum
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Those scraps were made for cookin' [ Fri Mar 23 2012 2:58 PM ]

Whatever happened to not wasting any part of the animal? Scraps in soups cook down to make it delicious! The ammonia gas is used in factories so we don't die of disease due mass processing of meat.
That said, consumers have every right to know what is going into their food and the option not to buy it.
I'm totally cool with using all of the animal bits [ Fri Mar 23 2012 3:05 PM ]

just not after they've been scraped off of the slaughterhouse floor and then sprayed with ammonia.
Though to be fair, I still eat hot dogs without knowing or wanting to know what's goin' on there.
- sloppy
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I liked porkchops.. [ Fri Mar 23 2012 3:08 PM ]

..until I found out the pigs had been rolling around in mud. Ewww! I don't care how much they reassure me the mud has been removed, because I just know there's got to be mud on my porkchop.
My diabolical plan is long-term but will traumatize many people. I'm going to buy a butchery, and instead of mechanically separating meat, I'll leave it on the bones, boil the bones to make beef stock, make stew with the stock, and serve it to innocent school children to sap and impurify their precious bodily fluids. Then later, after they've grown up, I'll show them a picture of the "slime" they ate. It will take a long time, but that's time I can use to rehearse for my Dateline interview.