Pink Slime
As pink slime ( English for pink slime , also mud or mush ) is colloquially some products industrially produced from cuts of beef that are preserved with preservatives. “ Lean, finely textured beef ” ( LFTB) is used as the trade name.
origin
The LFTB product was invented in 1991 by Beef Products, Inc. , USA, and additional ammonia treatment was invented in 1994.
The term Pink Slime goes back to the microbiologist Gerald Zirnstein , who examined these products on behalf of the US Department of Agriculture in 2002, and in 2004 used the term in personal messages. In 2009, the New York Times reported on it as part of a food safety issue and found that both fast food and grocery chains in the US were using it as part of their ground beef . After the TV chef Jamie Oliver described this in one of his shows and simplified it, the term was used in various ways, such as B. further TV programs and reports in social networks .
Procedure
Lean Finely Textured Beef originally consists - as the name suggests - of beef, but the process is also suitable for other types of meat. Production residues such as cuttings, otherwise unmarketable meat and mechanically separated meat are used for production. This is mechanically chopped up and the meat fibers are separated from the fat. The fibers are similar in color and consistency to minced meat made from muscle meat.
The mass is then treated with ammonia . The gas dissolves in the water contained in the meat and ammonia water is produced . This increases the pH of the meat and kills pathogens or reduces them to a concentration that is no longer detectable. This treatment is primarily directed against E. coli bacteria (O157: H7), but also against Salmonella . After this treatment it is flash frozen and can then be mixed with minced meat.
use
Due to the low production costs, Pink Slime was often used for the permitted stretching of minced meat, which was then offered as raw material in the trade, or prepared as minced meat dishes such as hamburgers , meatballs and sauces in system catering and communal catering (e.g. school meals ). Due to the labeling requirement and the ban on mechanically separated beef, pink slime is hardly widespread in the EU. After general publication and broad criticism from the population, many users have stopped using it in food production.
criticism
By treating with ammonia, there is the possibility of effectively eliminating existing increased bacterial loads, including the resulting odor development, and thus also feeding meat into the processing and sales process that is beginning or advanced to decay. Especially when this is mixed with other meat. According to the New York Times, a long review of quality controls by both government organizations and product purchasing companies showed that ammonia-treated minced meat was relatively more likely to be contaminated with E. coli and salmonella. This resulted from the conflict that with correspondingly high doses of ammonia and thus strong microbiological effectiveness, unpleasant ammonia smells also appeared on the product, with correspondingly lower doses, however, microbiological contamination was significantly more frequent. As a point of criticism, the animal material used is often referred to as slaughterhouse waste, which, however, does not correspond to its legal definition. Pink Slime's use of ammonia as a preservative has also been criticized. Proponents point out that it is an approved food additive ( E527 ). In particular, frequent use as a detergent and cleaning agent is cited as an argument for unsuitability in food production.
Quotes
Food expert Marion Nestle said of Pink Slime:
“Meat slime solves a huge problem for meat producers. Only around half of the meat of the 34 million cattle slaughtered each year is suitable for human consumption. The rest is burned, buried or used as cheap dog and cat food. Meat slime makes it possible for up to twelve pounds of this meat to become edible for humans, thus saving the lives of around 1.5 million cattle every year. "
Gerald Zirnstein, USDA microbiologist , wrote in 2002 email to colleagues:
"I don't think of the stuff as ground beef, and I think allowing it as ground beef is a form of fraudulent labeling."
British TV chef Jamie Oliver said:
“Why would a sane person put ammonia-enriched meat in his child's mouth? The great American public urgently needs to understand what their food industry is doing. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Joel L. Green: Lean Finely Textured Beef: The “Pink Slime” Controversy , pp. 5f., Congressional Research Service, April 2012, [1] (PDF), accessed June 6, 2014
- ↑ a b c d Michael Moss: Safety of Beef Processing Method Is Questioned , The New York Times, December 30, 2009, ab. 2nd August 2018
- ↑ a b Pink-red meat slime. Retrieved April 9, 2012 .
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Jill Reilly: Victory for Jamie Oliver in the US as McDonald's is forced to stop using 'pink slime' in its burger recipe , Dailymail, January 7, 2015, aborted. 2nd August 2018
