Don’t Call it a Comeback — Pink Slime Beef Returns
![](https://www.foodbeast.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/CafeteriaLine_full_600.jpg)
After heavy negative publicity hit, McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants recently made a business decision and said that pink slime will no longer be the foundation of their high quality foods. So what to do with all the leftover Jiggly Puff colored meat? Give it to the kids, of course.
The U.S. Department of agriculture announced that it will be buying 7 million pounds of the controversial ammonia-treated meat and will be distributing it to the country’s school lunch program.
Kids will eat anything, right? I mean we unknowingly ate it for a while.
This announcement was made only a couple weeks after the government announced its plan to provide healthier lunch choices at schools, with more vegetables, fruits and whole grain food on the menu.
The USDA approves of it and said that it meets the standards set for food safety. So, although questionable, the government said it’s good and safe to eat.
As the Huffington Post gingerly put it, the meat is a ground-up combination of beef scraps and cow connective tissues that are treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill pathogens like salmonella and E. coli.
The ammonium hydroxide that is added to the beef is what has caused the most concern nationally because many believe it can be harmful to eat. A red flag should be that it is an ingredient in household cleaners and fertilizers.
“Lean beef trimmings” is the term for the yummy, gooey meat. That’s like calling cocaine a “Powdery body stimulant.” Not to say it is as bad as cocaine, but let’s be real, that’s not just beef trimmings, it’s pink slime.
So, the meat could be a risk according to some microbiologists, but as it stands, it’s safe enough to soon be served by a lunch lady near you.
[Thx Huff Post]