In a recent statement, McDonald’s announced it would no longer use “ammonia-treated beef” in its hamburgers. Okay. I mean, huh? Ammonia-treated beef? Isn’t ammonia-D the active ingredient in Windex? Was McDonald’s trying to give a streak-free shine to American innards? Not exactly. “Pink slime” is the rather unappetizing nickname given for ammoniated boneless lean beef trimmings.
The nickname originated from a 2002 email sent by a USDA microbiologist to his colleagues which in part said, “I do not consider the stuff to be ground beef,” according to The New York Times. While ammonia-treated beef didn’t pass that particular gentleman’s sniff test, it legally qualifies as beef in the estimation of the USDA as a whole. But why use it at all? Incorporating the ingredient shaves a few cents off the price of producing a pound of ground beef, and when you use as much beef as McDonald’s does – those pennies add up fast.
The pink slime process was originated in the 1990s by Beef Products, Inc. Beef trimmings often come from parts of the carcass that are replete with bacteria and are considered unfit for human consumption, so a wisp of ammonia is introduced to raise the pH of the meat which inhibits the growth of bacteria. Yum! Super Size it!
In the not-too-distant past, pink slime could be found in about 80 percent of the hamburgers eaten in the US, both at fast-food restaurants, and in the national school lunch program. McDonald’s says it hasn’t had pink slime in its supply chain since August of 2011, and denies claims that it made the decision because of an anti-pink slime campaign by English celebrity chef Jamie Oliver (WARNING – certain images in this link may be disturbing for some all viewers). Taco Bell and Burger King have joined the exodus away from pink slime use.
The pink slime story recently emerged partly as a result of Mr. Oliver’s vocal objection to the product, and McDonald’s decision to stop using it. However, this isn’t pink slime’s first trip through the news cycle. Several years ago, an insider at Beef Products, Inc. approached the Government Accountability Office (GAO) about alleged misrepresentations about the product’s safety. Public awareness about pink slime grew gradually until The New York Times got hold of the story in 2009.
Given the fact that many Americans are more health-conscious in their diets these days, companies often voluntarily remove legal but controversial ingredients (such as trans-fats), or add healthier ones (like whole grains). It would appear McDonald’s et al made the decision to scrap pink slime in order to ride the trend of healthier eating. That said, I don’t think it’s cynical to think somebody somewhere did a cost-benefit analysis on ammoniated beef and determined the cost savings weren’t worth the potential bad publicity that might come from its continued use.
So why did it take so long for companies to remove such an apparently objectionable product from our beloved hamburgers? Who knows? Imagine how long it would have taken if ammoniated boneless lean beef trimmings were nicknamed “rose-colored flavor crystals.”
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Photo by David Schott, used under a Creative Commons license.
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