9:15 am January 30, 2012, by David Markiewicz
This oughta’ help that next fast food lunch go down better.
McDonald’s is no longer using an additive filler known as “pink slime” in its world-famous hamburgers.
What, you don’t know about the pink slime?
That’s spare beef trimmings treated with ammonium hydroxide to make them safe and possibly tastier.
Pink slime, for all its yumminess, has been the target of some serious criticism, ranging from newspaper reports to a campaign by TV chef Jamie Oliver to get rid of the stuff.
As gross and potentially dangerous as it sounds, the government has said pink slime is not a threat.
Ammoniated beef trimmings were deemed good to go five years ago during a U.S. Department of Agriculture crackdown on ground beef, even though the meat “comes from the parts of the cow most likely to harbor pathogens,” according to Huffington Post. The ammonia supposedly kills any bacteria in the beef.
Eat up.
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153 comments Add your comment
EDC
January 30th, 2012
11:19 am
Pink Slime is in everything…not just McDonald’s. Even the ground beef you just bought from the grocery store. Go to http://www.beefproducts.com to learn more.
Demetrio
January 30th, 2012
11:20 am
Sad to Say: You just need to go get a Happy Meal. And chill.
Bryan
January 30th, 2012
11:22 am
the McRib really should be called the McAnus
Blah! Blah!! Blah!!!
January 30th, 2012
11:28 am
Oh well, was just considering becoming a vegan anyway, articles such as this one, along with what I’m learning from reading some of the comments on here will make my decision more set in stone…..
Mystery Meat
January 30th, 2012
11:28 am
Good one Bryan. Then they could change the name of the restaurant to McDerriere’s and serve French food too.
Nonia
January 30th, 2012
11:30 am
Jeez!!!! No wonder the population of Americans developing diseases such as parkinson and Alzhiemers is on a sharp rise in this country!!!!!
Pink slime in the beef, formaldihyde in the french fries, beef that could easily have come from a cow strickened with mad cow disease, brown rice bleached to turn it white, FDA only checking 1 percent of the food that comes into this country!!!!!! Americans consumption far out paces the ability to check the food before it ends up in our stomachs.
Where does the foolishness stop other than stop eating from places like McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell….etc.
Dave
January 30th, 2012
11:31 am
Jamie Oliver ….. there’s a successful dude. Research how much food is being thrown away in California due to the crappy school menu he & Mooshell forced on the public screwell kids.
Deepdiver
January 30th, 2012
11:34 am
McDonalds only serves the highest quality products. Haha. I guess the profit motive means companies will cut any corner to make more profit.
Vince
January 30th, 2012
11:34 am
Thankfully, the Krusty Burger remains the same formula as always.
This Guy
January 30th, 2012
11:39 am
Who just stopped eating McD burgers?
<———
cd
January 30th, 2012
11:41 am
@Eddy Freddy McDonald’s is not solely responsible for obesity, heart disease. etc. McDonald’s as a company has existed for a long time and generations have eaten the food without suffering chronic diseases. It’s the lack of moderation and physical activity in this country that has caused chronic health issues to increase over the past couple decades. Nobody is forcing anyone to cram cheeseburgers down their throats, take some personal responsibility and stop blaming everyone else.
Stanford
January 30th, 2012
11:41 am
Well, one thing for sure – We don’t need more no stinkin’ govmint regulations control food. If people want to eat ammoniated beef trimmings that’s their god given right to be free!
It’s just a theory anyway no way to really prove it. My preacher said most of these crazy ideas come from foreign countries like France and California and I believe him over some secret govmint agency Czar.
Eat away
January 30th, 2012
11:47 am
If you don’t like the place, don’t eat there.
If you do, simple moderation is good for everything.
Eating a meal at McDonalds or other fast food place a few (not a lot) times a year is not going to do you in.
People want to always pin their demise on one target. Not always the case conspiracy theorists.
grimus
January 30th, 2012
11:47 am
@ stanford… Souynds like your preacher needs to stick to the good word and leave the burgers to the chef… He doesn’nt know what he’s talking about. Some saaid You I had to be smart and rich to eat Mcdonalds… I make over 18,000 dollars a year and my kids and me eat it all the time so there.. Just sayin
get old and spit up your food
January 30th, 2012
11:51 am
I love additives.
Many foods were bland and tasteless before. And the life expectancy was a heck of a lot lower.
Now I can enjoy food and still live a lot longer than others before me..
How freaking old do you need to get?
Good, more burgers left for The Hamburglar
January 30th, 2012
11:55 am
The Hamburglar will take all your burgers away that you don’t eat!
Chilly Willy
January 30th, 2012
11:55 am
I will never eat McDonalds again!!! Now I will go vomit!
Dubious Believer
January 30th, 2012
12:03 pm
“Soylent Green is made out of people!…..PEOPLE!!!!” – Moses
Sam the Sham
January 30th, 2012
12:05 pm
Stopped eating fast food after open heart surgery. Beyond the “pink slime” it’s the high fat, high salt, high carbohydrate nuclear bomb that destroys your heart, arteries and veins and lead to a miserable life and early death.
Taxi Smith
January 30th, 2012
12:14 pm
Why anyone would eat at that place has always been a mystery to me.
bigdawg88
January 30th, 2012
12:16 pm
what’s funny is that the article only mentions McDonald’s, but Burger King and Taco Bell both made the same announcement as McD’s – back on 12/24/2011. Way to go AJC, only a month late!!
BTW: there are still other restaurants using pink slime. Might want to ask the other guys what they use in their ground beef.
Roadrunner
January 30th, 2012
12:16 pm
The article doesn’t say where else Pink Slime is used, could be in other restaurant burgers, could be in ground beef on the store shelves…..
Roadrunner
January 30th, 2012
12:18 pm
Notice the article doesn’t say where else Pink Slime is used, could be in other restaurant burgers and ground beef on store shelves….
Pink Slime? Are You Kidding Me?
January 30th, 2012
12:21 pm
Umm….EWW!!!!!
billie
January 30th, 2012
12:21 pm
So THAT’s what that “Special Sauce” is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
little mickey
January 30th, 2012
12:22 pm
i’ll bet the fries would taste great cooked in that stuff
Sad to Say II
January 30th, 2012
12:23 pm
Sad to Say………….Buffy can’t spell even with an MBA! She runs a pink slime company-
The Happy Meal is always half full, not half empty!
January 30th, 2012
12:28 pm
This stuff is good for you….honest!!!!!
Not unintelligent
January 30th, 2012
12:28 pm
I have two college degrees, so I wouldn’t consider myself less intelligent or not intelligent. I DO eat at McDonalds because I don’t feel like making my own hamburgers. I like having the sweet tea and because I don’t NEED to save the $2 a day, then I can get whatever I want, whenever I want. Stop with the generalizations!
Native_Atlantan
January 30th, 2012
12:30 pm
First MAD COW and now this from (umm umm) “healthy” cows. Y’all can keep the beef.
Inspector Clouseau
January 30th, 2012
12:30 pm
Ground Pink Panther meat on a bun….yummy!
Bulldawg
January 30th, 2012
12:44 pm
SAD to Say is CORRECT.
GENERALLY speaking, folks that eat at McDonald’s on a REGULAR BASIS are further down both the intelligence and socioeconomic “ladder”. Period.
Additionally, one can easily make and take their lunch to work for $3-4 a day. For the poster that asked how incredulously, well, fresh deli meat bought by the pound, loaf of bread, pack of cheese and some salad makings = no problem.
ND
January 30th, 2012
12:44 pm
News stories like this make me really glad to be vegetarian.
Ted
January 30th, 2012
12:47 pm
Buffy, WOW I’m impressed. Did you also invent the internet or did Al Gore beat you to that one? Just kidding. I’d probably disagree with most of “sad to say’s” post though. People eat fast food because of it’s convenicene and taste, not because they’re stupid. To fix a healthy meal with vegetables, lean meat, poultry or fish also costs more than a trip through the drive thur.
9 out of 10 if asked would tell you they know it’s not good for you. Healthy food also costs more and takes time to cook.
I still love their fries when they’re hot, but skip the burgers and Mystery McNuggets. For a good Hamburger that’s reasonable, go to 5 Guys.
florida guy
January 30th, 2012
12:49 pm
Just another fact that convinces me that I made the right decision years ago to stop eating at those nasty, grime-ridden suck-holes. Really, is anybody shocked by this???
www.twistedmuser.com
January 30th, 2012
12:55 pm
Why do we have to be told everything. Why cant we just live in ignorant bliss!
Thogwummpy
January 30th, 2012
12:59 pm
Actually, Huffington Post is staffed by a bunch of Code Pink slime…so, whatever.
ML
January 30th, 2012
12:59 pm
Pink slimey arches.
Ward
January 30th, 2012
1:07 pm
It’s beyond depressing that anyone could look at that stuff, something called ‘ammoniated’ meat and think, ‘let’s serve this to people.’ It shouldn’t be served to animals. It’s not even fit to be fertilizer.
The whole profession of ‘food chemist’ should be abolished.
Dont bother
January 30th, 2012
1:15 pm
@SeaWeedShakes
Carrageenan is a seaweed extract used to improve the viscosity of dairy products. It’s used in pretty much every milk shake and ice cream.
Lexi
January 30th, 2012
1:19 pm
Lots of delicate hothouse flowers on this board. Looks as though we are a generation or two removed from any idea of where food comes from, or what it acquires as it makes its way to the market. I love spinach, almost as much as beef, and buy organic, but I wash my leafy greens to reduce my risk of ingesting salmonella. And, every pound of milled grain we buy has insect parts mixed in. Bon appetit.
really?
January 30th, 2012
1:20 pm
to everyone bitching about “generalizations,” STFU! the only reason everyone still eats @ mcdonald’s is because we’re lazy, it’s cheap & usually en route to whatever we’re doing.
sarahk
January 30th, 2012
1:20 pm
I agree with you Sad to Say. And I would like to say it is even more sad the fact that in so many other countries, even lower income countries the beef served at McD’s is of higher quality than the one served here in the US. That is probably because advocacy falls short in this country and people are not as aware of what they are being served; not to mention the high probability of the FDA paying a deaf ear to any complaints or well founded investigations. Just as a form of illustration, our northern neighbor Canada serves all beef McD’s burgers and in Spain, no dollar menu items is allowed given the poor quality of those food items. I think that is a good way to have a long term vision of public health issues in such countries.
Maida
January 30th, 2012
1:40 pm
my next question is what are they replacing the slime with?
trizzle
January 30th, 2012
1:44 pm
Look, this is all about choices, not intelligence levels. As long as you eat in moderation, and not live off mcdonalds, your not gonna die. Everyone eats crap now and then, out of convenience, laziness, or enjoyment. Why come down on people for that? There are a LOT worse things then the pink slime they use in those ingredients to make that food. If you dig down deep enough, you will find that most fast food in bad in content…
Scotto
January 30th, 2012
1:54 pm
Soylent Pink is People!!!
Rodney
January 30th, 2012
1:55 pm
Hey Bulldawg (I’m guessing you’re UGA – figures) – I’m the poster that asked how you can make lunch for that price daily. But you seemed to miss that I asked about those lunches being “healthy”.
I’m not sure a big old meat and cheese sandwich every day is too healthy.
beebee
January 30th, 2012
1:58 pm
test
beebee
January 30th, 2012
1:59 pm
Sad to say is probably some overweight woman who in fact IS a good cook but unfortunately way overweight and thinks she knows what’s best for everybody.
Sahara
January 30th, 2012
2:01 pm
Now I know why McDonald’s hamburgers give my stomach fits…nasty fillers. I haven’t had a McDonald’s hamburger since 1991-92 because they always make me sick on the stomach.