“Meat…is it really good for us ?”

A lot of times we as consumers eat meat and we may sometimes ask the question, “is it good for us ?”  Well a recent study by ABC news reported that lean finely textured beef (L.F.T.B.) or pink slime as it’s called is 70% of ground beef sold in the United States. I guess you say “why is this important to meat consumers” ? Well it’s very important because many schools, grocery stores and fast food chains have announced that they will no longer distribute, sell or use products that contain L.F.T.B. I guess you the reader are wondering what exactly is L.F.T.B. a.k.a. pink slime ? L.F.T.B. is a beef additive that is, sometimes, added to ground beef and other processed meats. L.F.T.B. is made using finely ground beef scraps and connective tissue that would normally be discarded and unsuitable for consumption.

Although it may be dangerous, scientists have done test and added things such as ammonia and pH enhancements to the meat to make it possible for humans to consume it. Up to 15% of a meat product can be L.F.T.B. without appearing as a component on the product packaging. The processed meat trimmings that constitute L.F.T.B. are cut away from steaks, roasts and other high grade meat cuts. Using ammonia to process meat trimmings produces a semi-liquid state by separating the fat from the lean meat and removing some of the collagen fibers supporting the lean meat.  The ammonia becomes gaseous and evaporates into the environmental nitrogen cycle.  Because ammonia is used, pathogens and non-pathogenic bacteria (which is found in hamburger and regular meat) are killed.  This makes L.F.T.B. cleaner and leaner than some regular meat and makes it a much healthier additive than some alternatives.

We as a human culture should determine what is socially acceptable to eat. A great amount of people don’t eat the parts of animals our culture considers inedible. Humans shouldn’t consume and try to avoid eating L.F.T.B. because it’s not natural and in the long run it can cause people to become very unhealthy. Even if L.F.T.B. is safe, nutritious and tastes like hamburger, it may not be culturally acceptable. Maybe the best thing to do for consumers of meat products is to just simply label L.F.T.B. as an ingredient. This procedure would give individuals, businesses and schools the opportunity and choice to decide for them whether it’s the culture or if it’s the cost that is the most important value in food choice.

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