1714 Slime Time

Ground beef. The USDA is buying 7 million pounds of it for distribution to schools for school lunches.
But it isn't ground beef as you think of it. It's ground beef scraped off the floors of slaughterhouses, mixed with ammonia gas to kill all the pathogens, and used to fill out 15% of regular ground beef.
I guess you could say the beef from the floor was truly "ground" beef.
This is the meat that was once used for dog food, so at least we're making a humanitarian step forward for our pets---by giving it instead to school children.
So what's new? I remember many a mystery meat casserole in the school cafeteria.
The beef is labeled "pink slime" by fooderatis and now everyone else. The USDA calls it "lean, finely textured beef trimmings" with, you know, a chemical they derive from rat urine. Which is no doubt present already on some slaughterhouse floors.
The USDA says it's safe and that's why they're using it. Industry representatives point out that by adding up to 15% pink slime, excuse me, “lean, finely textured beef trimmings,” to regular ground beef, they are effectively shaving 3 cents off the cost of a pound of beef. And bonus, more meat is produced from fewer cows, putting less strain on the environment.
So they could also say the beef was green. Or even more confusingly, they could say pink slime is green.
And just as appetizing.
Meanwhile supermarkets across the land are joining the fray, and banning outright pink slime from their shelves. Some are giving consumers a choice and letting the market decide.
Biggest problem? Having to use all their labeling ink printing "lean, finely textured beef trimmings"...
America ya gotta love it.