Pink Slime

[Skeptic Ginger]

Agricultural practices and restaurant supply chain management is constantly changing, so the concept of burgers having a different texture than they did 20 years ago doesn't strike me as odd. Whether that might be due to pink slime lean finely textured beef The Goop In Question or not, there's really no way to know.

I suppose, now that grocery stores and restaurants are pulling TGIQ out of their ground beef products, SG could tell us if burgers are returning to their "regular" texture. However, that way lies the path of Confirmation Bias.

I particularly hate a particular burger texture. It's bothered me for years. I've thrown burger away because I hate that texture. And you are trying to tell me it's confirmation bias?

It is not.

It's one thing when people think they prefer Pepsi over Coke and then can't tell the difference in a blinded taste test. That isn't what is going on here. I hate the texture and I love hamburger. I found some that doesn't have it and a lot that does. It's not like I hate Safeway's burger and like QFC's. When I find that rubbery texture it grosses me out. It's not brand related.

I was sure there was something different about hamburger but those butchers kept denying it.

I will be ecstatic if I can buy burger again without worrying it is going to be the rubber stuff.

 

[Joey McGee]

This weekend I found out that lean finely textured beef goes really well with whine.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I'm not sure why you're complaining about the economic issue. It's cheaper to produce a hamburger patty with filling, which basically means you can economically make more patties from a single cow. As any vegan will tell you, meat production is incredibly wasteful in terms of carbon and land consumption. Any method of stretching the existing meat production to feed more people has to be a good thing in my book.

That wasn't my point. Re the economic issue, I was just replying to realpaladin's claim this was consumer driven. I have no issue per se with a profit driven decision.

But in this case the profit motive was accompanied by a misleading labeling calling something 'beef' because that means any part of the cow while knowing full well people would hear 'meat' and not connective tissue.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I've not noticed the change that you have described. Maybe it's a local thing?

You are the first person in this thread (I think) that also noticed the texture change in burger. I am very surprised more people haven't noticed the same thing. I can't tell you how striking the change has been to me.

 

[arthwollipot]

You are the first person in this thread (I think) that also noticed the texture change in burger. I am very surprised more people haven't noticed the same thing. I can't tell you how striking the change has been to me.

You misread me. I said that I'd not noticed the change.

 

[casebro]

You are the first person in this thread (I think) that also noticed the texture change in burger. I am very surprised more people haven't noticed the same thing. I can't tell you how striking the change has been to me.

I think I mentioned texture back on the first page? But I get it only in the cheap factory made tubes of ground beef and the same brands's of pre-formed patties. 'Moran' is one. I knew it was from too much tendon/connective tissue, as confirmed by a post in the mean time. Many of my relatives don't have clue, and serve the bulk crud at BBQs. But then the worst of them eat very little beef, and put sauce on good steak when they do. Heathens, borderline vegatarians. I don't feed them, or eat at their houses any more. But I haven't had the same texture from locally ground meat.

Hey, just how much gunk do they put in to those plastic tubes anyhow? It must be a pretty high percentage to get that texture, like 40-50%, not just a token amount. And the other half is probably pretty poor quality too.

 

[realpaladin]

It doesn't change the fact this product is not something the consumers wanted. You can tell that by the outrage when it became more commonly known.

That is BS. Consumers want one thing and only get into an outrage when someone tells them where it comes from.

I have been taking people along on vacations to countries where the chicken (raised naturally) and pig (more freerange than any livestock most people on this forum ever ate) where slaughtered when there was a customer.

You should have heard the 'outrage' then! 'OMG I am never going to eat an animal again!'.

This product was developed to increase the return per cow. Period, end of initiating cause for the product.

That is what I said. Because of the consumer wanting 'more for less'.

 

[Beerina]

I ask those defending this unlabeled practice a question, if there is no difference in this burger additive besides the process, shouldn't pure additive look and taste the same as hamburger without the additive? Why not sell burger made from 100% lean beef trimmings?

An interesting question. Of course, some burger has cereal filler, and a 100% cereal "burger" would taste nothing like burger. But at least it's listed on the package.

Presumably this allows burger to be cheaper without altering the taste too much. Fair enough, sell it, but tell people it's not standard hamburger.

 

[realpaladin]

An interesting question. Of course, some burger has cereal filler, and a 100% cereal "burger" would taste nothing like burger. But at least it's listed on the package.

Presumably this allows burger to be cheaper without altering the taste too much. Fair enough, sell it, but tell people it's not standard hamburger.

I can live with that... but don't get your hopes up to high for the consumer...

A lot of vegetarians will happily eat winegums colored with Carmine... and carmine is... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochineal
Both terms are clearly on the packaging...


So labelling is not the 'be all, end all' of the story.

The consumers themselves have to make an effort to get themselves educated... or do you think instead of 'Carmine' the label should say 'crushed parasitic insects blood'?

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

You misread me. I said that I'd not noticed the change.

Oh. That is so weird. The change is so obvious. Those stores are national chains. You are in the US aren't you? I'm not sure how it could be regional but it's possible. Or do you only buy one brand of burger? Maybe the brand you buy doesn't have it.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

That is BS. Consumers want one thing and only get into an outrage when someone tells them where it comes from.

I have been taking people along on vacations to countries where the chicken (raised naturally) and pig (more freerange than any livestock most people on this forum ever ate) where slaughtered when there was a customer.

You should have heard the 'outrage' then! 'OMG I am never going to eat an animal again!'.

So you double down on your non sequitur and add another one.

Let me help you out here. I don't care who is at fault, who benefits, who loses, or what tourists who see what they are eating while it still breathes think. I haven't said anything regarding this side track except to respond to your "consumers are all too blame" comments.

If you want to throw your opinion into the thread mix, that's fine. Next time don't quote me when you do. I don't care about this aspect of the issue.

 

[Cleon]

I particularly hate a particular burger texture. It's bothered me for years. I've thrown burger away because I hate that texture. And you are trying to tell me it's confirmation bias?

No, I'm trying to tell you that there's no way for the rest of us to know whether your subjective opinion represents objective reality.

My subjective experience has been that burger texture varies widely depending on meat quality, where the beef was purchased, how it was stored and for how long, how it was prepared, etc. While it's not inconceivable to me that TGIQ has had an effect on burger texture, I'd like to see some evidence of that beyond your belief that it is so.

 

[realpaladin]

So you double down on your non sequitur and add another one.

Let me help you out here. I don't care who is at fault, who benefits, who loses, or what tourists who see what they are eating while it still breathes think. I haven't said anything regarding this side track except to respond to your "consumers are all too blame" comments.

If you want to throw your opinion into the thread mix, that's fine. Next time don't quote me when you do. I don't care about this aspect of the issue.

Just quoting for the fun of it.

 

[Joey McGee]

I may have gotten a leaner protein beef product but it would not have been more nutritious. And I paid more for it!

This is completely unethical. There was nothing on the label to say I was eating cartilage and scraps, no mention of ammonia. USDA/BPI says there is nothing to add to the label because it is BEEF. They repeat it over and over. It's beef, beef, beef. Is that really what anyone thinks they are buying? Beef to me means MEAT, the muscle tissue. What else from cattle is considered beef? Tripe, Cartilage, guts, tails, eyeballs?

Poop! What about poop? It's got e.coli in it! "Evil Gubmit allows poop in ground beef!" It's 94% lean beef, 6% pure evil!

I paid extra money

Where is the evidence of that?

I was swindled and betrayed.

 

[Joey McGee]

Slacktivists, chemophobes and neo-luddites are celebrating across the globe today.

'Pink slime' maker suspends some plant operations

The company that makes "pink slime" suspended operations Monday at three of four plants where the beef ingredient is made, saying officials would work to address recent public concern about the product.

If they could only get people to read Nancy Donley's letter...

"We feel like when people can start to understand the truth and reality then our business will come back," Letch said. "It's 100 percent beef."

I'm gonna go request some pink slime containing foods and complain when they don't have any
As evidenced by previous posts, BPI is a good company

About 200 employees at each of the three plants will get full salary and benefits for 60 days during the suspension, Letch said.

They are hoping they can hire them all back, nothing would make the slacktivists sadder!

Oh yeah and New York Daily News ran the picture that is not pink slimeground beef. Nice

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

No, I'm trying to tell you that there's no way for the rest of us to know whether your subjective opinion represents objective reality.

That is a different argument from claiming I can't make a valid assessment for myself because I can't rule out confirmation bias. Yes, in this case, I can.

 

[arthwollipot]

Oh. That is so weird. The change is so obvious. Those stores are national chains. You are in the US aren't you? I'm not sure how it could be regional but it's possible. Or do you only buy one brand of burger? Maybe the brand you buy doesn't have it.

No, I'm not in the US. But economics is economics in most developed countries - if there's a trend towards rubberisation of burgers over there, it's pretty likely that there's a similar trend here. After all, we do tend to get most of your castoffs under the Free Trade Agreement (also known as the "bend over drop trou and repeat after me: help yourself agreement").

 

[Draca]

This might explain what I've been trying to figure out for years now. The hamburger I consume some years back started tasting awful, mostly because of the texture that seemed 'grisley' to me. It got to the point that the only hamburger I found not to have that texture which I found distasteful was the organic stuff at Whole Foods. It costs as much as a good steak from Safeway. Whole Foods grinds their own burger at the store.

It will be interesting to see if indeed this is why hamburger texture has become an issue for me.

You might find this article interesting, the author did a taste test.

'Pink slime' in burgers? A taste test.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0316/Pink-slime-in-burgers-A-taste-test

I'd managed to identify two packages of 85 percent lean ground beef, one with pink slime and one without. Time to taste.

By label alone, it was clear we were talking different beef demographics. The pink slime-free product bragged that it was minimally processed and that the cows had been raised without antibiotics, growth hormones or animal byproducts in their food.

Outwardly, they seemed the same: They smelled the same, and they looked basically the same, though the pink slime sample was slightly lighter in color. Until you touched them. The all-natural sample was slightly fattier to touch. That seemed odd, since both products should have the same fat content.

For the taste test, I kept it simple and pure. I formed a half-pound (quarter-kilogram) of each ground beef into a thick burger patty, adding nothing to the meat. And though I prefer my burgers on the grill, I decided to fry these in a skillet because it's easier to control the cooking, ensuring both would be cooked to the same degree and under the same conditions.

I added nothing to the pan. Meat this fatty generally bleeds out a robust amount of grease, so I wasn't concerned with sticking. That was my second surprise. The pink slime patty released very little fat during cooking. The other patty gave off two or three times as much.

About 5 minutes per side, and I declared them medium-rare. After giving them a few minutes to rest, I seasoned them lightly with salt and pepper, then cut in.

First, the unadulterated burger. The aroma was luscious. The meat was juicy, tender and nicely seared. Where I'd cut, juices slowly dribbled out onto the plate, collecting in a pool. The taste was savory and meaty, with big beefy flavor. The chew had just the right texture, substantial but giving. Basically, everything you would want in a burger.

The pink slime burger also was perfectly seared and drew me in with an equally alluring aroma. But no juices collected on the plate. Or dribbled out. Or were apparent in the meat in really any way. The taste was — OK. I took another taste of the first burger, then back to the pink slime burger.

It was not bad. But nor was it good. It was flat. I added more salt. No. It was simply one-dimensional.

And then there was the texture. Unpleasantly chewy bits of what I can only describe as gristle, though they were not visible, seemed to stud the meat of the pink slime burger. The result was a mealy chew that, while not overtly unpleasant, didn't leave me wanting another bite.

 

[arthwollipot]

An unblinded, non-scientific, anecdotal test.

 

[Finn McR]

This outrage is silly - what did people THINK went into their meat? Upton Sinclair made it pretty clear, and there's no reason to think the meat industry's changed much since "The Jungle." What happened here was that people saw that photo of mechanically separated turkey or chicken parts (that's the stuff that looks like pink toothpaste,) and started screaming about what's in their beef. Or, more precisely, what's in their KIDS' beef, because nothing starts a panic better than a perceived threat to people's precious darlings. That dingbat "chef" Jamie Oliver also helped by creating a huge strawman argument on his cooking show - complete with a locked kitchen cabinet containing a bottle of liquid ammonia among other household poisons, which he poured straight into a container of beef trimmings in a misleading demonstration of how beef is treated at the plant. This was after he made an aside - "this is what I IMAGINE HAPPENING." All this was done with a group of kids in attendance, naturally, to improve the theater.

If you don't think that Jamie Oliver is a chef, you have no credibility at all. He is. It is essentially indisputable

In addition, your reference to, "his cooking show," indicates that you have no idea how many television shows he has contributed to. Presumably you refer to one done about school food in the USA, and, frankly, a for-camera demo of a bottle of aqueous ammonia is probably less upsetting to the public than referring to treating meat with ammonium hydroxide gas as the producers of "lean fine textured beef" own up to.

Look, eat all the chemically treated, scrap, mechanically separated cow meat you want. It does not bother me, as I don't eat that crap. No "ground beef" from the store, no fast-food burgers, no "chicken tenders" on the chicken side of the issue... If you want ground beef from the supermarket try this: grab a pack of actual beef, take it to the butcher counter, and ask them to grind it for you (or better yet grind it yourself). If they won't, don't buy it.

If you make food yourself from vegetables, grains (and processed grains), and actual cuts of meat you will be way ahead of the curve.