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<\/a><\/p>\nTwo former microbiologists for the Food Safety Inspection Service, Carl Custer and Gerald Zirnstein, believe they have reason to be concerned about this “pink slime.” Zirnstein discovered the pink matter in 2002 while touring a Beef Products Inc. production facility as part of a ground beef salmonella investigation.<\/p>\n
So what is exactly is the stuff? BPI\u2019s ‘Lean Beef Trimmings’ reportedly consist of connective tissue and beef scraps that are normally produced for dog food and rendering and are treated with ammonia hydroxide to kill pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli.<\/p>\n
The resulting pinkish substance is later blended into traditional ground beef and hamburger patties and served in places like school cafeterias. The USDA reported that last year, 6.5 percent of the beef it purchased for the national school lunch<\/a><\/strong> program came from BPI.<\/p>\n As a concerned parent,\u00a0 Zirnstein said, \u201cI have a 2-year-old son, and you better believe I don\u2019t want him eating pink slime when he starts going to school.\u201d<\/p>\n But USDA officials claim no fault in the matter, noting that the sole role of the food inspection service is to determine the overall safety of the nation\u2019s food supply, not to make judgments on a product\u2019s relative merits.<\/p>\n Even though Zirnstein and Custer say trimmings are not, in fact, meat and even diagnosed them as a \u201chigh risk product\u201d after conducting a baseline study, the food inspection service has apparently ignored their reports.<\/p>\n But recent developments may have the USDA more concerned about the product they’re purchasing since fast-food chains like McDonald\u2019s, Burger King and\u00a0Taco Bell<\/a><\/strong> have dropped it from their lines.<\/p>\n If it’s not good enough for Taco Bell, is it good enough for school lunches? It may be up to parents to\u00a0decide.<\/p>\n Also Read:<\/strong><\/p>\n Government Bails Out Chicken Factory Farmers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Chicken Nuggets: Made from Pink Goo<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Consumer Reports Gives Chicken Nuggets Failing Grades<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Would you like any pink slime in your hamburger, sir? I wouldn’t think so. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture is allowing this suspicious substance into the packaged ground beef being served in school lunches across America, according to a … Continue reading