Commentary: The slime that binds

There was some short-lived hope—at least on my part—that that the pink slime saga might be fading away by now.

Wrong.

Not only does the story continue to arouse activists to new heights of rhetorical rebuttal against those who would defend the use of lean beef protein, but now the outrage has done what many pundits have suggested was impossible: unite both left and right wing partisans in solidarity to condemn the ingredient that, no matter what happens, is finished as a legitimate ingredient in USDA-approved meat products.

Despite a Johnny-come-lately campaign by several Midwest governors to stand tall and try to explain both the economic and nutritional benefits of recovering beef protein for use in ground beef processing, the power—indeed, the fascination—with the very name “pink slime” has proven to be irresistible as fuel to fire up a talk show segment or to anchor a blog post devoted to the controversy.

Part of the problem is the weak-kneed response of USDA officials to the sudden outcry over what boils down to the product’s horrible nickname and less-than palatable imagery.

For example: Listen to what Kevin Concannon, USDA undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer sciences, told Radio Iowa last week:

“At the end of the day, lean finely textured beef is safe, leaner than the average beef that comes through the beef supply and it is less costly,” he said. “But we recognize it is a choice between using lean textured beef or another, less lean ground beef, and that is something we will have this coming school year.”

Wow, way to sell it, Kev.

In disgust we trust

The official non-response from our regulatory agencies was bad enough, but as you’d expect, left-leaning commentators really piled on. Consider how the progressive media typically handled the story, specifically The Young Turks talk show with Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian:

“Pink slime is disgusting. It’s an attempt by the meat industry to increase profits and find a way to use the meat that’s left behind: tendons, meat that’s stuck on bones, eyeballs, muscle tissue—all the parts that we used to toss out.You put all these parts into [a machine], it grinds it up and then you use this paste in bologna or hot dogs.

“We always knew that what was in a hot dog was disgusting, but even knowing that they put tendons and eyeballs in it, maybe that doesn’t gross you out. But what they do to make this ‘matter’ taste good is disgusting. First of all, it’s crawling with bacteria, so they wash it with ammonia. And the ammonia tastes really, really bad, so they use artificial flavoring. And since it’s a weird pink color, they have to use artificial dye.”

The litany of falsifications and outright urban legends mixed in with an arms-length, eyes-closed summary of what those commentators think is involved with producing lean beef protein is absolutely astounding.

Or how about the way conservative media poured its own flammable vitriol on the topic, specifically this rant on The Savage Nation radio show with Michael Savage:

“I’m talking about the fact that 70% of all beef has pink slime and that it’s infused with ammonia. Under both the Bush administration and now Obama,the USDA permits this fraud.

“So what is pink slime? They say it’s meat, but it isn’t meat. What it is, is leftovers, the remnants of a cow carcass once all the muscular cuts of meat have been removed. Since this is coming from a part of the body more likely to be infected, the packers then spray it with ammonium hydroxide to kill microbes. So you’re eating ammonia. You’re eating ammonia!

“Some major restaurant chains, such as McDonald’s. Burger King and Taco Bell have agreed that they will no longer put pink slime in their burgers, but [instead use] meat. But you’ve already eaten pink slime in your McDonald’s burger, which is why your mind has become somewhat slimy. You see, you are what you eat.”

Or in this case, what you spew.

I didn’t think it was possible for left and right wing pundits to agree on anything.

How wrong I was.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dan Murphy, a veteran food-industry journalist and commentator.

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