Kids Get Pink Slime Burgers

          The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) purchase of so-called “pink slime” hamburger for school lunches makes no sense, according to two Scientists who worked for the USDA. “I have a 2-year-old son,” microbiologist Gerald Zirnstein said. “And you better believe I don’t want him eating pink slime when he starts going to school.” Zirnstein first used the name “pink slime” after visiting a Beef Products Inc. (BPI) factory in 2002 as part of an investigation into salmonella contamination in ground beef. Zirnstein said he does not “consider the stuff to be ground beef.” Made from beef scraps normally used for dog food, BPI’s Lean Beef Trimmings are treated with ammonia hydroxide, to kill pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli. The resulting pinkish slimy substance is later blended into traditional ground beef and hamburger patties.
        “We looked at the product and we objected to it because it used connective tissues instead of muscle. It was simply not nutritionally equivalent [to ground beef].” Microbiologist Carl Custer said. He first learned of the product back in the 1990s. He talked about his concerns to other officials at the USDA inspection service, but they decided Lean Beef Trimmings were safe.
       “The word in the office was that Undersecretary JoAnn Smith pushed it through, and that was that,” Custer said. JoAnn Smith was Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1989. She is not a scientist, her experience is in lobbying for the beef industry. “Scientists were pressured to approve this stuff with minimal safety approval,” Zirnstein added.
       A study by Zirstein and Custer classified the slime as a “high risk product.” Zirnstein says the food inspection service didn’t like their study, and started a separate study that says BPI’s Lean Beef Trimmings are safe.
        The USDA plans to buy 7 million pounds of Lean Beef Trimmings from BPI for the national school lunch program. The USDA is buying meat for school children that McDonald’s, Burger King and Taco Bell refuses to buy.
        “My objection with having it in the schools is that it’s not meat,” Custer said. It’s the lack of clear labeling that angers both Zirnstein and Custer. “It’s more like Jell-O than hamburger, plus it’s treated with ammonia, an additive that is not declared anywhere.” “They’ve taken a processed product, without labeling it, and added it to raw ground beef,” Zirnstein said. “Science is the truth, and pink slime at this point in time is a fraudulent lie.” BPI, and Smith, who is now on the board of directors at Tyson Foods, did not respond for comment.

-David Knowles, TheDaily.com