Watch It Yourself
The real reason McDonald's finally dropped the pink slime (for strong stomachsonly)
It's a victory for healthy food crusaders everywhere: Following the lead of Taco Bell and Burger King, McDonald's will no longer use "pink slime" in its burger recipe.
The purveyors of the Big Mac have decided to discontinue the use of Beef Products, Inc. ingredient, a move that has many crediting British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.
Oliver demonstrated the process for making the aptly-named "pink slime" to a disgusted, horrified audience.
During an infamous episode of Jamie's Food Revolution, Oliver demonstrated the process for making the aptly-named "pink slime" to a disgusted, horrified audience.
The product starts with trimmings, bits of sinew and meat deemed otherwise inedible. These scraps are put into a centrifuge to separate fat from meat, washed in a solution of water and ammonium hydroxide to remove E. coli, Salmonella and other bacteria, then minced.
Et voilà! You have a "filler," allowed to make up a component (usually no more than 25 percent) of ground meat sold in the United States. The product was common in fast food and school cafeteria meals, until now.
Whether or not Oliver was the impetus for the decision — a McDonald's spokesperson denied that Oliver's show influenced the company's removal of BPI products — his goal of raising awareness about America's eating habits and igniting "a chain reaction of positive change across the country" is on its way to fruition.
Now that the ingredient list is free from "pink slime," will you be more likely to order and eat a fast food burger?
