McDonalds, Pink Slime, Sounds Good Right?

I just read an article (click here to read), that states that Mcdonald's has confirmed that they are no longer using 'pink slime' chemical in their hamburgers. First off, thank God. Second of all, THANK GOD I DON'T EAT MCDONALD'S! Wow, I am disgusted that a company would use anything that resembled slime, especially when colored pink, in something that so many people across the globe eat on a daily basis.

The pink slime is actually called ammonium hydroxide. Ammonium hydroxide is a chemical that is used in fertilizers, household cleaners, and even homemade explosives. And come to find out, McDonald’s has been putting it in their hamburger meat.

Todd Bacon, McDonald’s senior director of quality systems wrote: "At the beginning of 2011, we made a decision to discontinue the use of ammonia-treated beef in our hamburgers. This product has been out of our supply chain since August of last year. This decision was a result of our efforts to align our global standards for how we source beef around the world." (You can read that statement here, on McDonald’s website)

To put this is more disgusting aspects, there are many other types of chemicals in the foods that are eaten everyday; such as propylene glycol (used in ice cream, it is a type of anti-freeze), carmine (which is commonly found in red food coloring and is basically husks of the cochineal beetle), shellac (which is the chemical used to finish wood products, and is used on candies to give them their shine), plus many others!

Although, the U.S. Agriculture Department says that the chemical that has been used in the hamburger meat is generally considered safe, I still do not think that it should have ever been used in their mass production of hamburgers over the years. A St. Louis based dietician, Sarah Prochaska, says that the component in a production procedure does not have to be stated to the consumers. McDonald’s says that they discontinued the use of the chemical several months ago, but however, deny that they decided to make the change after the popular public campaign against the chemical by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

Jamie Oliver, now has his own show called Food Revolution. I have not ever personally watched it, but have seen clips of the show and do find it interesting. You can read more about Jamie Oliver, his television show, and what he stands for here.

All I know is, even though McDonald's says that they are not allowing this particular chemical to be put in their hamburger meat anymore, doesn't mean that they aren't allowing other random chemicals in other foods that they serve in their resturants all over the country. And let me be honest here, I'm not some food advocate or someone that is a big "Go Green" person that eats entirely organic foods and whatnot, but I do not support not having a valid statement of what goes into the food I do eat. I think that we deserve the right to know whats in our food cause I mean, we have to eat... just hopefully not pink slime!