Dr. Russell Cross Talks about the Safety of "Pink Slime"

Dr. Russell Cross, Department Head, Animal Science, Texas A&M University, talks about the safety of lean finely textured beef, so-called "pink slime." Dr. Cross was a USDA scientist when lean finely textured beef was approved.

Find more info on what Pink Slime is and what it means to you here: http://factsaboutbeef.com/2012/07/10/...

• Category

  News & Politics

[iqinsanity]

Pink slime has nervous tissue in it, the same stuff where mad cow prion is. Smell ammonia and tell me your ok with adding it to your hamburger.

[Cameron Olson]

Why?

[Cameron Olson]

As a microbiology graduate, it should be obvious to you that the bacteria count in the meat scraps have far more bacteria than whole muscle cuts. Bacteria on meat grow in the presence of air, of which there is none on the inside if whole muscle cuts. For that reason, steaks and roasts needn't be cooked the whole way through, but are safe to eat after brazing the outside. The meat scraps have infinitly more suface area exposed to oxygen, so it's obvious that it will have more bacteria.

[hmartincalle]

Dr. Cross, The issue is not whether pink slime is safe, or not. The issue is simply the fact that I do not want pink slime or anything else you care to call it in any beef product I purchase in chain grocery or drug store distribution.

[bluehackney]

It is heated so that the lean can be separated from the fat. Ammonium hydroxide gas is used to kill the bacteria, just as Ammonium hydroxide is used to kill bacteria in some of the vegetables that we eat (like ready to eat salads.) USDA tested and approved this process decades ago and it has been used billions of time since then.

[val4215]

I have, (eaten it straight) and except for the texture, its has as good a flavor as a very lean hamburger.