The Fall And ( Underreported ) Rise Of Pink Slime
Many people have forgotten about the 2012 “ pink slime ” scandal in which beef scraped from animals ’ skeletal muscle at processing plants was extruded through tubes ( looking like spaghetti or intestines ) was being treated with ammonia to kill bacteria . Few knew that pink slime was in 70 percent of US ground meat , unlabeled . ( A US Department of Agriculture microbiologist had claimed the product was not even ground beef at all but connective tissue .)
A series of exposes by ABC News in 2012 about pink slime , officially known as “ lean finely textured beef ” ( LFTB ), provoked such national revulsion that the product ’ s primary producer , Beef Products Inc . ( BPI ), lost contracts with 72 customers , closed three of its four plants and laid off 700 workers , almost overnight . Cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange hit a low .
There were two shockers — first that ammonia was in human food , unlabeled , and secondly that bacteria were so entrenched in slaughterhouses , especially E . coli , that it was necessary . The public was especially outraged over the revelation that pink slime was in school lunches — that kids were unwittingly eating it . Once that news was out , 47 out of 50 states declined to purchase any of the product for the 2012 – 2013 school year . A quarter of a million people signed a Change . org petition to ban the product in school lunches and the USDA quickly told schools that relied on the government for ground beef , they could choose beef without the pink slime . After such swift responses , you would think pink slime would have vanished from the food landscape but the opposite has occurred . In 2018 the Food Safety And Inspection Service ( FSIS ), part of the USDA , reclassified pink slime as “ ground beef ” and it now can legally constitute up to 15 percent of ground beef ! It has not gone away — it has been assimilated .
Meanwhile , Beef Products Inc . ( BPI ), the main pink slime producer , sued ABC News for “ false , misleading and defamatory statements ” and “ product and food disparagement ” and in 2017 the suit was given a green light because BPI was ruled a “ public figure .” BPI actually prevailed and reached a settlement with ABC out of court for the alleged disparagement which was rumored to be as high $ 177 million .
Ritual Slaughter : More Criticism And Support
Since the publication of the first edition of this book , ritual slaughter of animals — kosher , sanctioned by Jewish law and halal , sanctioned by Islamic law — has received more news coverage . Because the cattle , sheep , goats , and other animals are not stunned or rendered insensate during ritual slaughter , the suffering and agony can be prolonged and upsetting to watch . In 2017 , before Eid al-Adha , or the Islamic Feast of Sacrifice , Veysel Eroğlu the Minister of Forestry and Water of Turkey admonished Turks to slaughter their animals rapidly to prevent gruesome images of animals pathetically fighting for their lives . Yet , as some countries have sought to limit or outlaw ritual slaughter , other voices charge “ religious persecution ” when such restrictions are considered . For example , a 2019 New York Times editorial called bans on ritual slaughter possible “ smoke screens for bigotry against Jews and Muslims .” It warned that “ those who really care about the welfare of animals should be wary of making common cause with right-wing nationalists whose hostile intent is to make life more difficult for religious minorities .”
Some EU countries now require stunning before ritual slaughter and ritual slaughter is banned entirely in Slovenia . Yet Poland overturned a 2013 ban on unstunned slaughter practices on the grounds of religious freedom . The following year , 2022 , Belgian lawmakers legalized ritual slaughter in Belgium ’ s capital , Brussels , in after the country had banned kosher and halal slaughter in 2019 . The Netherlands sought to tighten its ritual slaughter laws but after a backlash ruled that a veterinarian must be present during slaughter and if the animal doesn ’ t lose consciousness in 40 seconds , it must be stunned . Clearly there are strong sentiments on both sides . In 2020 , nine out of ten Europeans polled wanted a ban on slaughtering animals that have not been stunned . Animal lovers question if religious dictates should override secular law if a religious practice specified beating a child .
Slaughter Lines Get Faster
There is a natural antipathy between private meat companies and federal inspectors who can stop their slaughter line , production , operations and intrude on their bottom line . In interviews , inspectors report being ignored , laughed at and openly defied by meat operations and not supported by their own local and national offices . One FSIS inspector was so bullied at a slaughterhouse , a FSIS employee who knew her told me , she took her own life .
Private meat companies desire to “ self-police ” is especially playing out over new inspection systems , such as the New Swine Inspection System ( NSIS ) and New Poultry Inspection System ( NPIS ) which have the effect of speeding up the slaughter lines . For example , under the existing poultry system , the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point-Based Inspection Models Project or HIMP , the number of birds slaughtered a minute is 140 birds but under NPIS it is 175 . NPIS is a pilot system , requiring slaughterhouses to procure a waiver and is only in use at 53 chicken plants so far .
Still , in March of 2022 , 26 groups of poultry worker representatives , worker rights advocates , occupational safety experts , animal right advocates , consumer rights advocates , and public and community health organizations wrote the administrators at the FSIS and Office of Food Safety at the USDA objecting to the new faster kills speeds on the basis of worker safety , food safety and animal welfare .
The new Swine Inspection System ( NSIS ), called the Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection rule , added to
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