Pink Slime in my Grocery Cart!?

Have you seen the ABC World News Tonight story about "pink slime" being in 70% of ground beef in supermarkets? Do you know what "Pink Slime" is? Do you think it's safe to eat? Would you eat it even if it was? You know dog and cat are safe to eat too but we're not lined up to by meat from them (with the exception of late Saturday nights on the South Side).

I first heard about "pink slime" from Jamie Oliver's show, Food Revolution & again in the movie, Food Inc.

To me it sounds pretty nasty. I don't want to eat something I know has been gassed with ammonia to kill the bacteria in in. Yeah, I get that a lot of the foods I eat probably are treated in the same way, but guess what? I'm making a conscious effort to change that, choosing more organic options and eating minimally processed foods.

Why you ask? Just because it makes sense! Look, I don't know what all the science says all the time & it changes from day to day. Maybe Ammonia sprayed lean beef trimmings are okay & its the genetically modified agent orange corn that will give us all cancer, or maybe they're both okay and its the artificial coloring in pop. Heck, it could be the all the "natural" sugar we get out of corn these days. Since apparently "sugar is sugar," maybe it's just the overload of ALL the extra sugar we put in our bodies.

The point is, our diets suck. They are full of both 'safe' and probably 'unsafe' processed foods that our bodies weren't designed to use for fuel. So why even bother worrying about which modified, processed or treated foods you can or can't eat. Just try to minimize the intake of them all.

With that said, I did by 2 ground beef burgers at the Giant Eagle meat counter today and I do plan on eating them tomorrow. How could I do that after just railing on about pink slime in beef?

Here's why...

• The guy at the counter told me they don't use 'pink slime' (although I don't think he really knew because he gave me a copy of the statement released by the beef industry).
• It is 'technically' 'safe' to eat.
• When it comes to my diet, I'm just doing the best I can. I try to eat right as much as possible. If I mess up from time to time and get something with corn syrup or some other highly processed ingredient its no big deal. The majority of my diet comes from wholesome, organic foods. A slip up here or there is nothing to worry about.
• And if I do find out GE's ground beef does use the 'pink slime' filler, I just won't buy it any more. There are plenty of other options out there including buying awesome cuts of beef and grinding it myself in my Vitamix!

I did sent a comment to GE via their website. Here's what I asked & I'll let you know what their response is!

"I'm Sure you've had a lot of these request lately, but just wondering if your ground beef is "pink slime" or BLBT free.

The guy at our local GE told us he through so, but then gave us a statement from J. Patrick Boyle's March 8th, "BLBT is a safe, wholesome and nutrition for of beef..." statement.

Just looking for the official "yes" its BLBT free, or "no" its not. Thanks in advance for the clarification!"