Chef Jamie Oliver Makes McDonald's Abandon 'Pink Slime' Meat in Burgers
Television Chef Jamie Oliver's campaign against the way McDonald's prepares their burger meat has prevailed, with the chain vowing to alter their unhealthy recipe.
When the food activist discovered that McDonald's used ammonium hydroxide to turn left over fatty beef trimmings into a beef filler for its burgers in the U.S., he criticized the practice on his show, "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution," calling the meat "pink slime."
"Basically, we're taking a product that would be sold at the cheapest form for dogs and after this process we can give it to humans," the chef said on his show, and conducted a demonstration.
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"This is not fit for human consumption," the host added.
In his demonstration, Oliver showed the audience the raw "pink slime" that is produced from the fatty pieces in the ammonium hydroxide process, which is used by producers Beef Products Inc. (BPI).
"Why would any sensible human being want to put ammonia-filled meat into their children's mouths? The great American public needs to urgently understand what their food industry is doing," Oliver said.
After months of Oliver bashing the practice on his program, McDonald's has altered their ingredients to remove the poorly processed food, but denied it had anything to do with the outspoken chef.
"At McDonald's food safety has been and will continue to be a top priority. The decision to remove BPI products from the McDonald's system was not related to any particular event but rather to support our effort to align our global beef raw material standards," Senior Director of U.S. Quality Systems and Supply Chain for McDonald's, Todd Bacon, said in a statement.
"McDonald's complies with all government requirements and food safety regulations," Bacon added.
"Pink slime" has never been used in beef patties in the U.K. and Ireland, who get their meat from farmers within the two countries, Daily Mail reported.
U.S. Department of Agriculture microbiologist Geral Zirnstein agreed with Jamie's campaign to ban the ammonium hydroxide agent.
"I do not consider the stuff to be ground beef and I consider allowing it in ground beef to be a form of fraudulent labeling," Zirnstein said.
Burger King and Taco Bell have also removed ammonium hydroxide processed ingredients from their food.
"We have our own food safety measures and standards in place throughout the entire supply chain to ensure that we serve safe, high quality food to every customer, every time they visit our restaurants," Bacon said.
