'Pink Slime' is the finely ground beef product that has been used in fillers for burgers and other ground meat dishes, and ammonia is used to treat the mead- I am OK with eating that, and here is why!

The controversy started because it looks really gross.  It comes from the left-over pieces of the cow and it is treated with an ammonia solution to remove bacteria.

Here is what I believe:  waste sucks.  I’m pretty sure you’re not going to the meat counter today and ask for all the leftover pieces of the cow that was delivered that morning.  Whatever we can do to reduce the wastefulness of this country:  count me in.  I watched a special on the Food Network a few months ago and they stated that at least 30% of food in the United States is WASTED:  thrown away, allowed to spoil.  How can we justify this wastefulness when even the poorest of us have a better life than is experienced in other parts of the world.  Look, I don’t want to eat fish heads either (or any kind of fish for that matter) but those heads gotta be good for something!

Pink Slime is treated with ammonium hydroxide.  After the initial “this looks gross” was over, the next wave started: “Pink Slime Has Ammonia!!”  “Horror!”  Even though there seems to be no scientific reason to remove this process of eliminating bacteria, I’ll go along for a moment and state that I don’t particularly relish the idea of ammonia compounds being in my food.  But they are.  They have been for at least 40 years, approved by the government.

Did you know there are ammonia compounds used baked goods, or control acidity in cheese and chocolate?  Yeah, so you’re eating it anyway.  Feeling a little woozy yet?

What has happened here is simple:  someone thought the meat product looked gross.  They were grossed out by the fact that parts of the cow they didn’t like to think about were in the foods they loved.  Then came the “we didn’t blow it out of proportion:  there is AMMONIA in that meat.”

We are a fickle people in the United States.  I guess we can afford to be.  But for how long?  If all you are willing to eat is the sirloin, why kill the cow?  Hunters always say ‘if you are prepared to kill it, be prepared to eat it,’- wise words to live by.

So, I’ll take my burger with or without.  Depends on how poor I am that month and if I am prepared to pay the premium beef price.  Maybe we’ll just have spaghetti and sauce tonight.

What do you think? Where do you stand on the 'pink slime' argument?

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