i have been having the meat counter grind sirloin in front of me for yrs..I also have them add "suet" nothing that has been rendered down like they speak of in the article, but good old soild beef fat that as been ground....
Exactly. A rib-eye, Porterhouse, NY strip, sirloin, roast, any large cut of meat is not a problem, but ground beef you want to watch the butcher grind it right in front of you, or grind it yourself at home. However, many grocery stores and nearly all butcher shops do not use it. Kroger sells some under different brands that contain it, but most of what they sell does not. None of the fresh ground in-store ground beef contains it. Publix, Costco, HEB and Whole Foods all do not sell any ground beef containing Pink Slime.
I have a meat grinder so that's how I do it 99% of the time. It's great for ground beef, pork, and sausages (have a sausage stuffer, too). If you will only grind meat rarely, once or twice a month, then an old fashioned stainless steel or cast iron manual grinder is fine. If you will use it more than that, an electric grinder is way worth the money (I have both). You can also use it to make pasta with attachments. You buy the exact cuts of meat you want, grind it yourself, and you know exactly what you're eating. That or have the butcher grind it right there while you watch. It's the only way to be sure.
Incidentally, Pink Slime is a process performed by a single company in the US, a company called
Beef Products Inc. (BPI), located in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota. They bill themselves as "The World's Leading Manufacturer of Boneless Lean Beef". Started in 1981, they were a major supplier to McDonald's and Burger King (neither of which use Pink Slime anymore), as well as restaurants and grocery stores, and its products are used in roughly 70% of the United States' hamburger patties. The School Lunch Program is another large buyer of BPI's stuff. They used about 5.5 million pounds of it in 2009. In 2007, the company was exempted from inspection by USDA. But a 2009 New York Times report, which stated that BPI products had tested positive for E. coli 3 times and salmonella 48 since 2005, prompted the USDA to revoke their exemption and review the company's practices.
As Jamie Oliver says in this video from his show, the video that created the Pink Slime storm, Pink Slime shows a complete disrespect for the food, and for the people who will be eating it. I highly encourage everyone to watch the 5 minute clip of his show, where he first introduced America to Pink Slime on a large scale.
