Nearly everyone remembers the nationwide outrage over the widespread use of ammonium-treated lean beef trimmings, popularly known as “pink slime.”
This vomit-worthy practice involves treating beef scraps and cow connective tissue with ammonium hydroxide to kill off E. coli, salmonella, and other dangerous pathogens that may be present.
Highly publicized in 2012, the use of pink slime resulted in serious consumer backlash for the beef industry after an ABC News report revealed that 70 percent of the ground beef at U.S. supermarkets contained the additive.
“By May 2012, Beef Products, Inc., the South Dakota-based inventor of the product, was on the brink of collapse – closing three of its four plants and laying off 700 employees,” states a new article published by Time.
But don’t be fooled! Time reports that pink slime production is once again growing, in large part because of the high demand for cheap meat products, and fading memories of consumers who were once outraged.
And pink slime isn’t the only unsavory aspect of cheap meat. Factory farmers who raise cows for beef routinely inflict these sensitive creatures with third-degree burns (hot-iron branding) and burn their horns out of their skulls, all without any painkillers. The crowded and unsanitary conditions of feedlots also create perfect breeding grounds for disease, including antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
Thankfully, we can choose to distance ourselves from this disgustingly cruel industry. Visit ChooseVeg.com for delicious, cruelty-free recipes and tips on transitioning to a healthy and humane vegan diet.
