U.S. Department of Agriculture purchasing seven million pounds of 'pink slime' for school lunches.
/ Amazonwoman
Just a little over a month after McDonald's announced they would stop using "pink slime" in their hamburger patties, the ammonia treated meat has found a new home.
According to the Huffington Post, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is purchasing seven million pounds of the slime for school lunches.
The product officially termed "Lean Beef Trimmings" is a ground-up combination of beef scraps, cow connective tissues and other beef trimmings that are treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill pathogens like salmonella and E. coli. It's then blended into traditional meat products like ground beef and hamburger patties.
The controversy surrounding the "pink slime" stems from the fact that it is composed of connective tissue instead of muscle, and is not nutritionally equivalent to ground beef. The ammonium hydroxide also has the potential to turn into ammonium nitrate—which is a common component of homemade bombs.
The USDA's plan to buy the meat comes only weeks after the government announced new guidelines to ensure students get healthier options for school lunches.
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