Topic: pink slime

[lonely moa]

Moa,

How could you have chosen not to post this bit from that article:

About a quarter of its daily 4400 lambs came from farmers not wanting a halal kill, he said. The farmers believed their stock were as Christian as they were.

Seriously, no mention that they think it might be cruel just unchristian.

Irrevelant to the argument.  It was just a convenient explanation of how Halal slaughter is done in NZ abatoirs.

[lonely moa]

From a previous post...If a slaughter plant elects to use a bullet the USDA will not allow them to use any meat from the head (i.e. tongue, cheek meat, etc.)

Why wouldn't you take the meat from from the head?   I always harvest the tongue and cheeks.

[carassius]

Why wouldn't you take the meat from from the head?   I always harvest the tongue and cheeks.

Never really looked into the reasoning behind the rule but I assume its due to the possibility, if even remote, that fragments have contaminated the meat.  Even the smallest of plants, though, use captive bolts and reserve the bullets for unplanned events such as misses with the captive bolt.

[snakeman]

Not impossible, it;s called transglutaminase:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXXrB3rz-xU

http://www.cookingissues.com/primers/transglutaminase-aka-meat-glue/


I believe the FDA considers this safe. Someone here said they bought a steak from Walmart and it's texture when cooked was more like ham... well...

Having watched the video you linked and skimmed the blog, I have a couple of comments on the "meat glue" thing that might be a bit off topic for this or not:

1.  Yeah, so?  Maybe I just spend too much time in my kitchen, but I thought this stuff was common knowledge.  I've been using it for several years to help stick together haddock and cod filets if I'm wrapping them around a seafood stuffing or similar.  Helps the food hold a shape that's nice on the plate as well as bake evenly.

2.  This enzyme is also part of something known as "molecular gastronomy" - people pay big bucks to eat in restaurants that use this stuff and lots of other "mad scientist" things in the kitchen to make unique and tasty dishes.

3.  The enzyme itself, in foods, is just another protein along with all the others and harmless, so I'm not sure what the big deal was in the video about "this stuff is dangerous".  I wouldn't snort it like cocaine or anything though.

4.  The video did have a very valid point about bacterial concerns if you've got "glued together" steak cooked rare or similar as there can be lots of voids that don't heat completely and you could get a dose of something nasty that way.

5.  Item four is why I agree that it most certainly should be labeled just like meat/fish is labeled for "previously frozen" or "wild caught" vs. "farm raised" and other such things.  Still, the point of the video seemed to be that it was more a concern on the restaurant table due to their suppliers using this process than it was in the supermarket meat case.


It's always the fine balance between "just tell me what I'm eating" and "I'd rather not know how the tasty, tasty sausage is made".

[lonely moa]

Why wouldn't you take the meat from from the head?   I always harvest the tongue and cheeks.

Never really looked into the reasoning behind the rule but I assume its due to the possibility, if even remote, that fragments have contaminated the meat.  Even the smallest of plants, though, use captive bolts and reserve the bullets for unplanned events such as misses with the captive bolt.

I was wondering if the contamination from brain tissue might be a BSE issue.

[snakeman]

Why wouldn't you take the meat from from the head?   I always harvest the tongue and cheeks.

Never really looked into the reasoning behind the rule but I assume its due to the possibility, if even remote, that fragments have contaminated the meat.  Even the smallest of plants, though, use captive bolts and reserve the bullets for unplanned events such as misses with the captive bolt.

I was wondering if the contamination from brain tissue might be a BSE issue.

Or a lead poisoning thing.

[Ah.hell]

Moa,

How could you have chosen not to post this bit from that article:

About a quarter of its daily 4400 lambs came from farmers not wanting a halal kill, he said. The farmers believed their stock were as Christian as they were.

Seriously, no mention that they think it might be cruel just unchristian.

Irrevelant to the argument.  It was just a convenient explanation of how Halal slaughter is done in NZ abatoirs.

Wasn't really making an argument, just pointing out a part of the article I found very silly and kind of funny. 

[carassius]

I was wondering if the contamination from brain tissue might be a BSE issue.

Or a lead poisoning thing.

Both good points and possibilities.  I don't think one can buy lead based ammunition (in the US) anymore but that doesn't mean it's not still out there.

To add on to BSE, I guess some of the pneumatic powered captive bolt guns used to also inject some air into the cranial cavity and, after all the BSE stuff happened, this was not allowed anymore due to the fear that prions might spread through the vascular system and contaminate non-neural tissue.  Thus, exposing people to BSE who had not eaten CNS tissue.  Seems unlikely and I wonder what kind of experiments were carried out or cited in support...if any.  Then again, the captive bolt guns they use now seem to work just fine anyway, as long as the aim is true.

[Plastique]

I don't think one can buy lead based ammunition (in the US) anymore but that doesn't mean it's not still out there.

What do they use instead of lead? Or are you talking about metal jackets?

[lonely moa]

I don't think one can buy lead based ammunition (in the US) anymore but that doesn't mean it's not still out there.

What do they use instead of lead? Or are you talking about metal jackets?

I think its lead shot in shotgun rounds that has been eliminated in use in wetland and riparian hunting.  I think you would be hard pressed to find rifle ammunition that isn't lead, at least here.

[lonely moa]

Moa,

How could you have chosen not to post this bit from that article:

About a quarter of its daily 4400 lambs came from farmers not wanting a halal kill, he said. The farmers believed their stock were as Christian as they were.

Seriously, no mention that they think it might be cruel just unchristian.

Irrevelant to the argument.  It was just a convenient explanation of how Halal slaughter is done in NZ abatoirs.

Wasn't really making an argument, just pointing out a part of the article I found very silly and kind of funny.

You were more interested in that article than I.  I think I was just cherrypicking a fact.  Adding any bit or religious crap to killing animals is at best silly and funny, or more likely, pathetic.

[carassius]

What do they use instead of lead? Or are you talking about metal jackets?

As from below, I was referring to shotgun shot which I believe is made from steel now.  I guess I just assumed that all ammo was lead free.  Obviously, I'm not a gun owner or aficionado.

I think its lead shot in shotgun rounds that has been eliminated in use in wetland and riparian hunting.  I think you would be hard pressed to find rifle ammunition that isn't lead, at least here.

Thanks.

[Plastique]

I think you would be hard pressed to find rifle ammunition that isn't lead, at least here.

Not just NZ, I think it's pretty universal.

[Chew]

"Pink Slime" Maker to Close 3 Plants, Cut Jobs | WKRG

Beef Products Inc. will close processing plants in three states this month because of the controversy surrounding its meat product that critics have dubbed "pink slime," a company official said Monday.

About 650 jobs will be lost when the plants close on May 25 in Amarillo, Texas; Garden City, Kansas; and Waterloo Iowa, company spokesman Rich Jochum said. A plant in South Sioux City, Neb., will remain open but run at reduced capacity.

The South Dakota-based company blamed the closures on what it said were unfounded attacks over its lean, finely textured beef. During its processing, bits of beef are heated and treated with a small amount of ammonia to kill bacteria. The filler has been used for years and meets federal food safety standards.

[Shibboleth]

You aren't going to get lead poisoning from eating something shot by a lead bullet.