Pink Slime - Good Enough For School Meals, Not McDonald's

School meals containing ammonium hydroxide, also known as treated ground beef or "pink slime", are OK, says the Department of Agriculture, despite growing opposition from parents and various groups. Even, McDonald's, a company not exactly known for healthy, wholesome foods, stopped adding ammonium-treated meat into its hamburgers since August 2011. Celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, as well as other retractors are said to have influenced McDonald's into excluding the additive. Other fast-food outlets have also stopped using it, including Burger King and Taco Bell.

According to The Daily, approximately 3.2 million kilos (7 million lbs) of ammonium-treated beef have been scheduled as part of school lunch programs in US schools. Approximately 6.5% of ground beef destined for schools will have ammonium-hydroxide added.

Ammonium hydroxide is used as an antimicrobial additive in food - it is a food additive. The US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) classes ammonium-hydroxide food additive as GRAS (generally recognized as safe).


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