# Pink Slime: what's the issue? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 9, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332 "2012-03-09T21:57:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/1 "2012-03-09T21:57:25Z")
[“Pink slime”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_slime) - a, um, meat-ish product - has been in the news recently. Other than being unappetizing - and frankly, _any_ meat can seem unappetizing if you watch enough footage from a slaughterhouse - what’s the huge controversy? Is it dangerous in some way? ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/2 "2012-03-09T22:46:35Z")
I think of the general populous got to see how the animals they treat are handled and killed, we’d have a lot more vegetarians. Until then, I’ll have the filet mignon. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/3 "2012-03-10T00:20:37Z")
Happily vegetarian, thank you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/4 "2012-03-10T00:45:33Z")
I’m with you **Machine Elf** , it looks like a lot of scary pictures meant to look gross. Milk processing doesn’t look much better. Health wise, we could all use less meat, less fat, less sodium and less sugar but I’m all for using all of the animal and letting little go to waste. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/5 "2012-03-10T00:48:59Z")
The safety issues are pretty much either debunked or hypothetical as far as I can tell. Many of the people who complain about it now are doing so from a quality point of view - i.e. you’re better of paying a premium for ground meat without the “slime” than pre-ground meat with it. Frankly, my take on it is the same as my take on Taco Bell meat and organ meat in hot dogs - if there is a way to extend the meat supply and make products cheaper, I’m all for it. (And the Taco Bell and hot dog examples might be good comparisons, since Taco Bell insists it only uses only seasoned beef, and hot dogs do not contain organ meats. I’m disappointed by both revelations.) ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/6 "2012-03-10T01:04:09Z")
Pink slime has very little MEAT in it. There’s a lot of connective tissue and tendons, and other structures that hold the muscle tissue in place. Ground meat used to be sold as “ground chuck,” “ground round,” or “ground sirloin.” Now, it’s typically labeled as to percentage of fat: 70/30, 80/20, 93/7, et al. The uproar is that with the addition of pink slime, the 70 percent you see may not be all MEAT, but include enough pink slime to comprise that portion of ground meat that isn’t fat. The pink slime is also treated with ammonia. Even though the processors claim the ammonia is rinsed out before the slime is incorporated in the finished product, there’s no absolute guarantee of that. There’s a LOT of handling to create the pink slime. And each step of the way allows more opportunity for the substance to be contaminated with bacteria. How many times in, say, the past ten years have you heard about recalls of ground meat because of contamination with E. coli? And it’s always GROUND MEAT that is the product recalled. I don’t eat meat any more. From the growth hormones, to the questionable foods given to the beef in feedlots before slaughtering, to antibiotic residues, and now the presence of this appetizing substance called pink slime, meat certainly doesn’t seem HEALTHY any more. YMMV. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/7 "2012-03-10T01:10:42Z")
I believe it’s the ammonia content and the likelihood of bacterial spoilage; even higher than ‘regular’ meat, despite the fact that it’s supposed un-spoilability was one of it’s big selling points. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/8 "2012-03-10T01:21:45Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > There’s a LOT of handling to create the pink slime. And each step of the way allows more opportunity for the substance to be contaminated with bacteria. How many times in, say, the past ten years have you heard about recalls of ground meat because of contamination with E. coli? And it’s always GROUND MEAT that is the product recalled. Not just that but as illustrated in the most memorable chapter heading of _Fast Food Nation_\*, entitled **There is Shit in the Meat** , it shows that the cleaning out of bowel tissue prior to its conversion to pink slime doesn’t remove 100% of fecal matter. There is IIRC an ‘FDA-acceptable’ amount of feces in each batch. On rare occasions that feces contains E. coli. The industrialised creation of pink slime mixes up the bowels of hundreds of different cows from dozens of different facilities, and in the unfortunate event of bacterial infection, it can contaminate several tons of ‘meat’ at a time. \*Which has the most cites of any piece of investigative journalism I’ve ever read. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/9 "2012-03-10T01:35:34Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > The pink slime is also treated with ammonia. Even though the processors claim the ammonia is rinsed out before the slime is incorporated in the finished product, there’s no absolute guarantee of that. So what? Ammonia isn’t inherently toxic at all concentrations, and you would certainly smell it at any concentration that is harmful. > [@](#): > > I don’t eat meat any more. From the growth hormones, to the questionable foods given to the beef in feedlots before slaughtering, to antibiotic residues, and now the presence of this appetizing substance called pink slime, meat certainly doesn’t seem HEALTHY any more. > > YMMV. > ~VOW Yes, I’m sure this thread will be filled with vegetarians giving their virtuous opinions. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/10 "2012-03-10T12:26:22Z")
I suppose it’s the same people that worry about mechanically separated chicken. Yum. Happy carnivore. I do try to eat only imported meat in my current location, though! ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/11 "2012-03-10T12:53:27Z")
Wikipedia has what seems to be a balanced write-up on “pink slime”. > **[Pink slime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_slime)** > > Pink slime (also known as lean finely textured beef or LFTB, finely textured beef, or boneless lean beef trimmings or BLBT) is a meat by-product used as a food additive to ground beef and beef-based processed meats, as a filler, or to reduce the overall fat content of ground beef. As part of the production process, heat and centrifuges remove the fat from the meat in beef trimmings. The resulting paste, without the fat, is exposed to ammonia gas or citric acid to kill bacteri In March 2012, an AB... The ammonia is used to raise the PH in order to destroy pathogens. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/12 "2012-03-10T13:15:14Z")
Are there problems with connective tissue other than the perceived deception of it being included as meat, it being impossible to chew tendons and big bits of gristle being unappetizing? Is it indigestible? Somehow unhealthy? ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/13 "2012-03-10T13:50:50Z")
meh, if we went back to the practice of only eating good quality free range meat, actual real cuts only on special occasions it would be better for both us and the planet. Our ancestors could only afford to eat meat once a week or so unless they were nobility. With that in mind, the more people realise the real price of eating meat twice or three times a day, the better as far as I’m concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/14 "2012-03-10T16:53:50Z")
I gave up most red meat years ago after seeing the reports of slaughterhouse/processing issues. Also, the slime that makes up chicken tenders contains non-meat and one doco on hot dogs indicated that they included “eyeballs and a\*\*holes”. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/15 "2012-03-10T17:00:03Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Are there problems with connective tissue other than the perceived deception of it being included as meat, it being impossible to chew tendons and big bits of gristle being unappetizing? Is it indigestible? Somehow unhealthy? My question also. People always bring this up as though connective tissue is known to be inedible or non-digestible or something. Is it? Or is this just the “ew, gross” factor at play again? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/16 "2012-03-10T17:06:02Z")
With seven billion drooling mouths on this planet to feed, I think pink slime, maybe also green slime for vegetable products, is here to stay. The names will change. Someday we’ll be taking the eco-bus to a futuristic Walmart to pick up our weekly allotments of slice and serve slime. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/17 "2012-03-10T17:49:23Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > I gave up most red meat years ago after seeing the reports of slaughterhouse/processing issues. Also, the slime that makes up chicken tenders contains non-meat and one doco on hot dogs indicated that they included “eyeballs and a\*\*holes”. Well, if you’ve been keeping up with the forums, you know that the hot dog documentary is wrong. We’ve already covered that. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/18 "2012-03-10T18:28:42Z")
If tendons and gristle and whatnot are turned into slime, there won’t be anything hard to chew. And the idea that this “product” has the potential of such serious contamination that AMMONIA is needed to kill off the pathogens to make it safe for human consumption is frightful. How many other foods do you eat that have to be disinfected first? These byproducts used to go straight to pet food. Dogs have to eat better than humans now? Pink slime is no longer fit food for consumption by cats? If you can get past the grossness of “pink slime,” and accept that the ammonia is fully rinsed from the glop, the MAJOR complaint by consumers is that these byproducts are NOT MEAT. Truth in labeling has been around for a while now. If any adulterants are incorporated into the “meat” part of ground meat, the processors need to be upfront about it. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/19 "2012-03-10T18:39:36Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > And the idea that this “product” has the potential of such serious contamination that AMMONIA is needed to kill off the pathogens to make it safe for human consumption is frightful. How many other foods do you eat that have to be disinfected first? Milk and fruit juice for starters. And they sometimes use lethal levels of radiation. :eek: But then milk and fruit juice also contain hydrogen monoxide, which is fatal in large doses, and is found in containment pools for spent nuclear fuel. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332/20 "2012-03-10T18:56:26Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Happily vegetarian, thank you. 🙂 After all those _E. coli_ outbreaks? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-slime-whats-the-issue/615332.md?page=2)