Beef processor files for bankruptcy over 'pink slime' uproar.

Ground beef processor AFA Foods filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday and said it plans to sell some or all of its assets, citing the impact of media coverage related to a meat filler critics have dubbed "pink slime."

www.reuters.com...

AFA is one of the largest ground beef processors in the United States and produces more than 500 million pounds of ground beef products annually

The phrase "pink slime" was first used by a former USDA microbiologist, Gerald Zirnstein, who used the term in a 2002 email to co-workers after having toured a BPI plant. The current debate began after celebrity chef Jamie Oliver drew attention to the product.

Wow I would think they would stop using it before they declared bankruptcy.

So is this going to have an effect on beef prices?

reply to post by cavalryscout

I hope for one of two things. That they get refused that protection, or that it helps not one iota. I may be a vegetarian but I would never tell someone to stop eating meat. I would tell people to examine most closely what they think they are eating and what they actually are eating though.

This company needs to disappear fast and others like it. Dishonest practices do not for a sound business model make.
ETA As for prices, quality should cost. Fast food is probably the biggest customer of suppliers like these and gives them full right to call it 100% beef. I mean, it is coming from a cow so technically it is beef. Closer examination makes most stomachs churn though.

reply to post by LightSpeedDriver


I am sorry but I fail to see the issue with "pink slime". The name itself is propaganda. This is meat from a cow that has been disinfected using ammonium hydroxide and separated from fat. Ammonium hyroxide breaks down into nitrogen (which comprises 17 % of the atmosphere we breathe and is in everything we eat) and hydrogen (again its part of water and air).

The meat was recovered from parts of the cow that were known to be infected with E. Coli. By disinfecting the meat, they make it safe for human consumption. This is meat that would have to be thrown away if it wasn't disinfected. I don't know but it makes sense to me to use as much meat from an animal when its slaughtered as possible.

Of course the cost of meat will go up. The disinfected meat was mixed with normal ground beef and brought the price down.

This is an activist propaganda nightmare. It has nothing to do with protecting our health. It has to do with making a name for yourself and getting funding for doing so!

Tired of Control Freaks

reply to post by TiredofControlFreaks

I am sorry but I fail to see the issue with "pink slime". The name itself is propaganda. This is meat from a cow that has been disinfected using ammonium hydroxide and separated from fat. Ammonium hyroxide breaks down into nitrogen (which comprises 17 % of the atmosphere we breathe and is in everything we eat) and hydrogen (again its part of water and air).

if You wanna eat the stuff
by all means...

I will eat raw & natural.
the stuff I don't have to clean with Ammonia

begs the question why isn't GMO based foods getting this much attention, probably because they are actually killing us softly.

reply to post by spoonbender


I am sorry spoonbender

The truth is that you have likely eaten pink slime (chicken nuggets at McDonald's and makes up about 20 % of most ground beef) at some point in your life and probably liked it just fine. It is meat after all.

Some people gets accidently contaminated during the slaughtering and processing (even if you do it yourself on the farm). If you are going to eat meat, you better understand that all animals have bacteria. There is always a potential for contamination with bacteria that could kill you!

Disinfection with food grade Ammonium Hydroxide is better than eating contaminated meat!

And you haven't addressed the notion of wasting the meat. I don't know but I eat all parts of a cow (heart, liver, tail).

Tired of Control Freaks

Just let us be able to know what "ingredients" are in the food, in the first place. If pink slime or GMO's were labeled properly, both industries would go belly up over night, as it seems this pink slime crap has. Most believe in fair markets and mandatory labeling laws would go a long way in the fight against corporate agriculture. People want to eat healthy, but the huge taxpayer give-aways to the corporations crushes the prices of real natural hormone-free pesticide-free food. We just don't have a choice, yet. I think labeling laws are a number one social priority.

Thief:
Also, why would anyone care about a business, that creates such a disgusting product and sneaks it into almost all our beef, going bankrupt is beyond me. That is what the free market is all about and proper labeling laws are 100% free market. Did anyone cry "jobs, jobs, jobs," yet? lol Just because something tastes good doesn't mean it isn't bad for you. Do you not agree with the free market, where consumers have a choice in what they eat? If nobody wants to buy this crap, that is not ok with you? Would you force people to like this stuff? If any food contained a GMO ingredient and was labeled as such, the company that produced it would likely go bankrupt or switch to organic non-GMO ingredients. I don't understand how one could "feel bad" this company is going under. I, for one, am tired of my body being polluted by corporations squeezing every last cent even by making us sick and unhealthy. I'm glad those people lost their jobs. I just wish weapons manufacturers would go bankrupt. (Military)

reply to post by TiredofControlFreaks


Quick question, though.

Isn't it a bit telling that even pet food manufacturers stopped buying this stuff for use in their products. (?)

The old saying, "I wouldn't even feed that to my dog!" comes to mind ....

So, with that being the case, they had to find someone else to sell it to - producers and manufacturers of fast food products.

I guess we're somewhat lucky as we buy All of our meats straight from a local butcher shop, where we get to actually watch them grind, tenderize or do whatever it is we're asking for.

Now, if only the makers of aspartame, ace-k and hfcs could join them.

They have no business being in business.

Originally posted by TiredofControlFreaks
reply to post by LightSpeedDriver

 

I am sorry but I fail to see the issue with "pink slime". The name itself is propaganda. This is meat from a cow that has been disinfected using ammonium hydroxide and separated from fat. Ammonium hyroxide breaks down into nitrogen (which comprises 17 % of the atmosphere we breathe and is in everything we eat) and hydrogen (again its part of water and air).

The meat was recovered from parts of the cow that were known to be infected with E. Coli. By disinfecting the meat, they make it safe for human consumption. This is meat that would have to be thrown away if it wasn't disinfected. I don't know but it makes sense to me to use as much meat from an animal when its slaughtered as possible.

Of course the cost of meat will go up. The disinfected meat was mixed with normal ground beef and brought the price down.

This is an activist propaganda nightmare. It has nothing to do with protecting our health. It has to do with making a name for yourself and getting funding for doing so!

Tired of Control Freaks

protecting our health??....why are meat processors allowed to used E. Coli meat in the first place. again, it's the activist that get blamed, and NOT the corporations.
hers's a clue for our government....stop corporations from selling us crap
what next,.... digging up rotten animal corpses, treating them with all sorts of chemicals and selling it to the public as "Safe to eat"?

reply to post by jimmyx


JimmyX

E. coli is NOT used in meat processing. E. coli is the name of an intestinal bacterial that both animals and humans have to help digest food.

In short, its in manure. Unfortunately E. coli, botchuli and salmonella are bacteria normal to slaughtered meat. When you eat a steak or ground beef from comes from the back, flank or leg of an animal, washing it is sufficient to remove any bacteria.

Unfortunately, the meat that comprises "pink slime" comes from the part of the cow that are fattier and closer to the intestine. The meat has a high probability of being contaminated with bacteria normal to the cows intestine. It is also quite fatty. This meat must be disinfected to remove bacteria and then centrifuged to separate the meat from the fat. Its still just meat but it has to be processed differently to ensure that it doesn't make you sick.

Our ancestors ate this meat but they just made sure to cook it thoroughly before eating it. There are many recipes out there that our ancestors used when slaughtering their own animals. don't you remember how it was considered a virtue that Indians used every part of the animals they killed except the squeal. They might have salted or dried the meat (both of these processes kill bacteria). The modern version is to disinfect it.

Tired of Control Freaks

Here is a link on the slaughtering of animals. Note the pride that the butcher takes in using EVERY scape of meat that can be recovered. Note also the use of methods like brining (which is salt), smoking and drying to kill bacteria.

Tired of control Freaks

Sorry - forgot to add the link

www.backwoodshome.com...

Tired of Control Freaks

So the company can't make obscene profits anymore by selling substandard food?
let them go under.

Here is a link outlining the controversy over pink slime (I hate that name)

abcnews.go.com...

Its low quality beef. Its fit for human consumption. I don't know where the rumor came from that it isn't used in pet food because it is!

Further, the controversy seems to be more about labelling. I have to agree that food should be properly labelled. People should know what they are buying.

Apparently, it isn't approved for use for human food in Canada but is used in pet food.

Tired of Control Freaks

"You are what your food eats".
I second that.

Originally posted by TiredofControlFreaks
reply to post by spoonbender

 

I am sorry spoonbender

The truth is that you have likely eaten pink slime (chicken nuggets at McDonald's and makes up about 20 % of most ground beef) at some point in your life and probably liked it just fine. It is meat after all.

Some people gets accidently contaminated during the slaughtering and processing (even if you do it yourself on the farm). If you are going to eat meat, you better understand that all animals have bacteria. There is always a potential for contamination with bacteria that could kill you!

Disinfection with food grade Ammonium Hydroxide is better than eating contaminated meat!

And you haven't addressed the notion of wasting the meat. I don't know but I eat all parts of a cow (heart, liver, tail).

Tired of Control Freaks

I have not partaken in anything McDeath's has to offer
in many, many, moons.

I often drive by the local pink-slime distributor.
I see the cars lined up around the block @ the drive thru @ lunch time waiting for their poison.

it kinda reminds me of people lining up @ the mortuary

p.s. I'm an avid hunter and I never use chemicals to clean my meat.

reply to post by TiredofControlFreaks

You hate the name? Fine, let's call it lean finely textured beef then or boneless lean beef trimmings then. Now where was I? Oh yes, pink slime. Forbidden as a food additive in Canada and the UK. Yes, the UK, the same place that gave us Mad Cow Disease. If they don't want it, I don't think I do. As someone else pointed out, if it's not good enough for pet food either then what is it good for? I would dare to suggest nothing. Eat it all you want though, you won't see me stopping you.

reply to post by spoonbender


Spoonbender

If you are a hunter - then you must, on occasion, dress your meat. What parts of the carcass do you leave behind?

Tired of Control Freaks

I'm gonna miss that pink slime in the burgers from the restaurants. It wasn't nearly as bad as people think. I know it was deceitful and it's nutrition was misquoted, but there are much worse things out there. So I wonder how many people lost their jobs. What are they going to do with those scraps now, they aren't going to waste them. It'll add twenty cents a pound to our beef at the store now. Oh, that's right I don't buy commercial beef anymore so I don't need to worry. If I loose my supplier, I'll find another local beef grower.