School lunches add ammonium hydroxide

Attack of the pink slime continues

A few weeks ago, I told you about how McDonald’s agreed to stop using “pink slime” to make their burgers. In case you missed that particular Reality Health Check, the slime is something called ammonium hydroxide. Which is ammonia mixed with water.

Apparently, the ammonia kills E. coli. (So does Lysol. But that doesn’t mean we should start using it as condiment.)

It turns out McDonald’s was using this stuff to convert fatty beef “offcuts” into beef filler for its burgers in the USA.

Disgusting, right? A representative from the USDA even went so far as to say, “I do not consider the stuff to be ground beef and I consider allowing it in ground beef to be a form of fraudulent labeling.”

So my question is, if they don’t consider it to be ground beef, then why did they just buy an enormous amount of the stuff to serve to kids?

Think I’m joking? I wish I was.

But the frightening truth is that USDA is buying 7 million pounds of beef containing pink slime. And they’re planning to serve it to kids all across the country in school cafeterias.

And the story gets even worse. Now, reports are claiming that there’s pink slime in about 70 percent of the ground beef you buy in the supermarket.

The stuff is not meat. It has no nutritional value. It doesn’t belong in the food chain, let alone in your kids’ or grandkids’ lunches.

The solution to the pink slime problem, though, is pretty simple. First of all, if you haven’t already, it’s time to switch to organic, grass-fed beef.

Second, start packing a lunch for your child (if the school allows it). It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Roll up a few of slices of turkey and cheese, throw some celery sticks in a bag and you’re done. Simple as that. And you can rest easy that they’re getting a nutritious, slime-free meal.