Good news, fast food fans: There will be no more pink slime in your burgers. DERRR -- WHAT PINK SLIME?!? You may be asking. Oh that? Why, it's just the meat trimmings that get soaked in ammonia and processed into pink goo that has been going into burger meat for the past several years. You didn't know that's what you've been eating? Oh yeah, for some reason they never put that in the commercials: Announcing Our New Flame-Broiled, Double-Decker Pink Slime Burgers!
Well, you can relax because Taco Bell, Burger King, and McDonald's have all stopped using so-called "pink slime" in their ground beef. Thank Ronald! Yuck. I think we can all do without that gunk. Well done, fast food companies.
Now, in the defense of pink slime, it is technically "safe" for consumption (the ammonia kills off any E. coli). And it's also a very "sustainable" way to use beef. The idea is, if you're going to kill off an entire animal you should try to use as much of that animal as you possibly can. But I think I speak for us all when I say -- EW. Can't we do better?
At any rate, this is a positive step toward fast food with integrity. I don't usually think of those words together -- "fast food" and "integrity" -- but I will give the fast food industry credit for this one. And I'll give fast food customers credit for this, too. It's you eaters who demand better food. NO ONE ELSE will get the fast food industry to change for the better.
Beef industry leaders are already complaining about the end of pink slime, saying activists have taken away a valuable food safety tool (i.e. ammonia). Oh brother, what a twisted bit of spin. Honestly, couldn't we find a different way to keep meat safe and clean? Why is it always about cleaning off the E. coli? How about finding a way to keep E. coli from getting into the meat in the first place!?! Anyway, in the meantime, congratulations to these fast food restaurants for making a positive step. I'm still not eating at any of those places anytime soon, but I'm thrilled to see this change.
Did you know about the pink slime in fast food burgers? Are you glad it's going away?
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