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"Pink slime" (a dysphemism for lean finely textured beef or LFTB,〔 finely textured beef,〔 and boneless lean beef trimmings or BLBT,〔) is a meat-based product used as a food additive to ground beef and beef-based processed meats, as a filler or to reduce the overall fat content of ground beef.〔〔 In the production process, heat and centrifuges remove fat from the meat in beef trimmings.〔 The resulting product is exposed to ammonia gas or citric acid to kill bacteria.〔〔 In 2001, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the product for limited human consumption. In March 2012, an ABC News series about "pink slime" included claims that approximately 70 percent of ground beef sold in U.S. supermarkets contained the additive at that time. Some companies and organizations stopped offering ground beef with the product. "Pink slime" was claimed by some originally to have been used as pet food and cooking oil and later approved for public consumption,〔 but this was disputed in April 2012, by both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) administrator responsible for approving the product and Beef Products, Inc. (BPI), the largest U.S. producer.〔〔 In September 2012 BPI filed a lawsuit against American Broadcasting Company for false claims.〔 == Contents == Finely textured meat is produced by heating boneless beef trimmings to , removing the melted fat by centrifugal force, and flash freezing the remaining product to in 90 seconds in a roller press freezer,〔 although South Dakota Department of Agriculture has reported a lower processing temperature of about .〔 The recovered beef material is extruded through long tubes that are thinner than a pencil, during which time the meat is exposed to gaseous ammonia at BPI,〔 or citric acid at Cargill, to kill bacteria such as ''E. coli'' and ''Salmonella''.〔〔 Gaseous ammonia in contact with the water in the meat produces ammonium hydroxide.〔 The ammonia sharply increases the pH and damages microscopic organisms, the freezing causes ice crystals to form and puncture the organisms' weakened cell walls, and the mechanical stress destroys the organisms altogether.〔 The product is finely ground, compressed into pellets〔 or blocks, flash frozen and then shipped for use as an additive.〔〔 Per BPI, the finished product is 94 to 97 percent lean beef, has a nutritional value comparable to 90 percent lean ground beef, is very high in protein, low in fat, and contains iron, zinc and B vitamins.〔 In an Associated Press review, food editor and cookbook author J.M. Hirsh compared the taste of LFTB-containing hamburgers against traditional, or "real", hamburgers. He described the LFTB-containing burgers as smelling the same, but being less juicy and highly mealy with bits and studs of cartilage-like matter.〔 The product is added to ground beef as a filler or to reduce the overall fat content of ground beef.〔〔 In March 2012 about 70 percent of ground beef sold in U.S. supermarkets contained the product.〔 Source areas for the product from cattle may include the most contaminated portions,〔 such as near the hide.〔〔 Rick Jochum, a spokesperson for BPI stated in 2012 that BPI's product does not contain cow intestines or connective tissue such as tendons.〔 A USDA microbiologist stated that the product does contain connective tissue "instead of muscle" and thus it is "not meat" and is "not nutritionally equivalent" to ground beef.〔 Fox News reported that besides low-grade beef trimmings other meat by-products such as connective tissue, cartilage, and sinew which contain fat were present.〔〔 US beef that contains up to 15 percent of the product can be labeled as "100% ground beef".〔〔 Up to 2005, filler could make up to 25 percent of ground meat.〔 Most of the finely textured beef is produced and sold by BPI, Cargill Meat Solutions, and Tyson Foods.〔〔 As of March 2012 there was no labeling of the product, and only a USDA Organic label would have indicated that beef contained no "pink slime".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pink slime」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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