How about some ammonia with that burger?
McDonald’s has stopped using ammonium hydroxide in its hamburgers after public outcry about the practice, made infamous by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, reached a fever pitch.
On his “Food Revolution” TV show last year, Oliver said McDonald’s beef supplier takes the cheapest cuts of meat and douses them in a mixture of ammonia and water to kill harmful bacteria. The result — a product once referred to as “pink slime” by a Department of Agriculture microbiologist — was something Oliver argued should not be sold to consumers.
“Basically, we’re taking a product that would be sold at the cheapest form for dogs, and after this process we can give it to humans,” Oliver said on his show last April, even offering viewers a gooey, unappetizing demonstration of the process.
Months later, McDonald’s seems to agree, and says it has stopped the use of ammonia hydroxide in its beef. The fast food giant, though, denied that the change had anything to do with Oliver’s campaign. “The decision to discontinue its use was not related to any particular event, but rather a result of our efforts to align our standards for beef around the world,” the company said in a statement.
Taco Bell and Burger King have said that they’ve stopped using the additive as well.
Some health experts say the industry’s decision to back down in the face of public scrutiny is a sign that Americans are becoming increasingly aware — and concerned — about the safety and quality of their food supply.
“The public was able to stop this because it doesn’t pass the ‘ew’ test,” Marion Nestle, a prominent nutrition professor at New York University and a frequent critic of the food industry, told The Daily. “And the more Americans learn about the food supply and how food is produced, the more these things are going to happen.”
Nestle also said the change by McDonald’s and others suggested that the movement toward safer and more natural foods is becoming mainstream. And she said more Americans are taking a closer look at other concerns about the food supply, particularly the use of antibiotics in meat.
But the so-called “ew” factor doesn’t necessarily correspond to safety. The industry’s use of ammonium hydroxide, for example, was approved by the Department of Agriculture, after studies found that it was safe and very effective in killing harmful bacteria in the less-than-choice beef trimmings that are more likely to be contaminated with E.coli and salmonella. Other chemicals, like citric acid, can be used to kill the bacteria as well.
McDonald’s supplier Beef Products Inc. engineered that process, and said on its website that the additive is safe and present in other foods, such as cheese and chocolate. “There is more ammonia in the bun, condiments and cheese than the burger,” the company says in a YouTube video defending the practice. Beef Products Inc. did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.
“From a health perspective this was not concerning at all,” said Dr. Richard Raymond, the Department of Agriculture’s former undersecretary for food safety. “But who wants slime in their hamburger? The issue got traction because of [Jamie Oliver].”
Oliver also slammed the department for not forcing companies to include the ammonia additive in their ingredient lists. But Raymond said that as long as the meat is safe to eat, Americans may find that they don’t want to know much about how it is processed.
“If they put everything that goes into a hot dog on the label, we wouldn’t eat any hot dogs anymore,” Raymond said. “That doesn’t mean they’re necessarily unsafe, but ignorance is sometimes bliss. I don’t want to read the ingredients on my salami.”
Karen.Keller@thedaily.com
McDonald’s has stopped using ammonium hydroxide in its hamburgers after public outcry about the practice, made infamous by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, reached a fever pitch.
On his “Food Revolution” TV show last year, Oliver said McDonald’s beef supplier takes the cheapest cuts of meat and douses them in a mixture of ammonia and water to kill harmful bacteria. The result — a product once referred to as “pink slime” by a Department of Agriculture microbiologist — was something Oliver argued should not be sold to consumers.
“Basically, we’re taking a product that would be sold at the cheapest form for dogs, and after this process we can give it to humans,” Oliver said on his show last April, even offering viewers a gooey, unappetizing demonstration of the process.
Months later, McDonald’s seems to agree, and says it has stopped the use of ammonia hydroxide in its beef. The fast food giant, though, denied that the change had anything to do with Oliver’s campaign. “The decision to discontinue its use was not related to any particular event, but rather a result of our efforts to align our standards for beef around the world,” the company said in a statement.
Taco Bell and Burger King have said that they’ve stopped using the additive as well.
Some health experts say the industry’s decision to back down in the face of public scrutiny is a sign that Americans are becoming increasingly aware — and concerned — about the safety and quality of their food supply.
“The public was able to stop this because it doesn’t pass the ‘ew’ test,” Marion Nestle, a prominent nutrition professor at New York University and a frequent critic of the food industry, told The Daily. “And the more Americans learn about the food supply and how food is produced, the more these things are going to happen.”
Nestle also said the change by McDonald’s and others suggested that the movement toward safer and more natural foods is becoming mainstream. And she said more Americans are taking a closer look at other concerns about the food supply, particularly the use of antibiotics in meat.
But the so-called “ew” factor doesn’t necessarily correspond to safety. The industry’s use of ammonium hydroxide, for example, was approved by the Department of Agriculture, after studies found that it was safe and very effective in killing harmful bacteria in the less-than-choice beef trimmings that are more likely to be contaminated with E.coli and salmonella. Other chemicals, like citric acid, can be used to kill the bacteria as well.
McDonald’s supplier Beef Products Inc. engineered that process, and said on its website that the additive is safe and present in other foods, such as cheese and chocolate. “There is more ammonia in the bun, condiments and cheese than the burger,” the company says in a YouTube video defending the practice. Beef Products Inc. did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.
“From a health perspective this was not concerning at all,” said Dr. Richard Raymond, the Department of Agriculture’s former undersecretary for food safety. “But who wants slime in their hamburger? The issue got traction because of [Jamie Oliver].”
Oliver also slammed the department for not forcing companies to include the ammonia additive in their ingredient lists. But Raymond said that as long as the meat is safe to eat, Americans may find that they don’t want to know much about how it is processed.
“If they put everything that goes into a hot dog on the label, we wouldn’t eat any hot dogs anymore,” Raymond said. “That doesn’t mean they’re necessarily unsafe, but ignorance is sometimes bliss. I don’t want to read the ingredients on my salami.”
Karen.Keller@thedaily.com
