According to the article in WalletPop, “As recently as 2004, school lunch beef contained as much as 15% of this ammonia-treated filler as a means of saving a whole three cents per pound.” When you read the article, it says that, “Beef Products began to blast its filler product with ammonia to kill the bacteria. Ammonia. And they’re still doing it.”
About six years ago, I made the decision to go from eating healthy to shopping at Whole Foods and eating healthy. The difference is that their standards in the products they sell are above reproach and that gives me a lot of confidence when I shop there that the meals that I am preparing for my children will help them grow up to be healthy adults. I am trying to give them the best chance in life that I can.
But not everyone has access to Whole Foods or similar stores and not all grocery stores are created equal. Nor do all businesses stick to the same code of conduct or share the same values.
According to the article again, “The New York Times reports that one of the main suppliers of processed beef filler to fast food restaurants like McDonald’s and Burger King — not to mention school lunch and grocery store meat — had been using ammonia as a means of killing E. coli O157:H7 and salmonella”. As we read above, they also continue to do so. That makes you wonder why.
The answer is, “the USDA exempted Beef Products filler from inspection, since the ammonia would do the trick”.
I am one of those people who gets really bothered when someone else lies or cheats or deceives or doesn’t play by the universal rules that we should all follow. The whole topic of whether you should eat fast food is better left for another discussion, but this is also meat that is used for school lunches and what is found in grocery stores.
“You won’t find ammonia listed on any labels, by the way, so don’t bother looking. Long ago, the government acquiesced to Beef Products’ request that the ammonia treatment be categorized as a “processing agent” so it doesn’t appear on any consumer labeling.”
Is there no line that isn’t crossed these days in pursuit of profit and to satisfy greed? It makes you begin to wonder…
