I am still reeling from the fact that McDonald’s confirmed that it has eliminated the use of ammonium hydroxide (an ingredient found in household cleaners, fertilizers and some explosives) in it’s hamburger meat, a.k.a. meat scraps. You remember ammonium hydroxide right? It’s that ‘pink slime’ that was flooding the interwebs months ago. You would like eliminating it would make me happy – right? Wrong. I am reeling because why, WHY would they EVER think this was an option in the first place?
Even though McDonald’s denies that its decision had anything to do with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s months-long food revolution campaign to remove ammonium hydroxide ‘pink slime’ meat from the United States food supply – I know better. I give props to Jamie for stepping up and making a large impact on how America views and consumes food. Bravo! According to Jamie he found the use of treated scrap meat “shocking” and that “basically we’re taking a product that would be sold in the cheapest form for dogs and making it ‘fit’ for humans.” Unbelievable.
So let’s get back to this pink slime. In case you aren’t familiar, besides being used as a household cleaner and fertilizer, it also releases flammable vapors which when added to certain acids can turn into ammonium nitrate – an ingredient found in homemade bombs. However, the Department of U.S. Agriculture classifies it as “generally recognized as safe”. Are they crazy? When would it ever be considered safe to consume chemicals found in household cleaners, fertilizers and explosives?
Making Changes at Home
Thankfully eight years ago, after watching Super Size Me – my family dramatically changed the way that we consumed packaged and fast food. Anyone who watched that documentary and saw what happened to Morgan Spurlock’s health after one month of a McDonald’s diet could see that this type of food is not not what we want our families eating. My family took it a step further and removed most of the packaged foods that we purchased and switched to organics at that time. In fact, I think Morgan Spurlock and Jamie Oliver would be happy to hear that we had our own food revolution.
Anyhow, back to McDonald’s – in a statement McDonald’s stated that it stopped using “select lean beef trimmings” – otherwise known as scrap meat soaks in ammonium hydroxide, then ground into pink “meat like” slime at the beginning of last year.
Regardless, my family has not consumed anything from McDonald’s in YEARS and will not in the future. What corners will they cut next since their pink slime cash cow has been taken away?
McDonald’s Isn’t the Only One
As you may know, McDonald’s is not the only fast-food restaurant that has used ‘pink slime’ meat. There are others including; Taco Bell and Burger King. So why am I being so tough on McDonald’s? My main issue with McDonald’s is that they aggressively market directly to children. My own son thinks he will love McDonald’s based on their advertising and I swear once in a while I hear him humming their jingle in the back seat of the car. It infuriates me! Children do not understand the impact that modified, unhealthy foods can and will have on their health – not to mention the impact on our environment. And of course, they are going to want to go to the restaurant that has the latest and greatest toy in the kids’ meal. This leaves us as parents telling our children no to something that they view as healthy and fun.
What Can You Do?
If your family does consume meats, consider only purchasing meats that are fresh and organic and cook your own meat at home. You can find tips for saving money on organics here and coupons for organics here. Consider eating more fresh vegetarian meals and skipping fast food all together. This way you have more control over what your family is consuming – since ‘mechanically seperated’, ‘meat product’ or ‘pink slime’ will not be on the label of anything that you purchase.
Ammonia-based ‘pink slime’ meats are a HUGE disappointment. Between this, GMO’s, pesticides, artificial ingredients, colors and additives – we are poisoning ourselves and our children – I find this to be unforgivable.
What are your thoughts?
Has your family unknowingly consumed pink slime meat?
photo credit happymealy
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