Ammonium smelling hamburgers? Ouch! .. can't find if the companies are getting out of the ammonia treatment in Australia .. all i get is the USA story .. this a bit from wiki ..
Controversies
Ammonia is being used in amounts to obtain an obligatory pH of 10 to remove E. coli and Salmonella; the ammonia is classified as a 'processing agent' and is not included on the list of ingredients. According to the Washington Post, this technology-based approach to reducing the risk of bacteria has received widespread support from the industry’s harshest critics at organizations such as Safe Tables Our Priority and the Food Safety Institute for the Consumer Federation of America. Many experts point to the role of these processes in protecting the food supply against outbreaks such as the European E. Coli outbreak.
This ammonia-treated meat derivative contains defatted beef trimmings previously only used for pet food and rendered into cooking oil prior to the development of advanced safety and processing techniques. According to the New York Times, a study financed by Beef Products Inc., which makes the product they call "lean finely textured beef", from fatty beef trimmings. The product is now being utilized with USDA approval in hamburgers of the American fast-food industry, grocery stores and the federal school lunch program, as its price is substantially lower and said it saves about $1 million a year in school lunch costs. Products treated in this manner have been subject to complaints of an 'ammonia odor' if the percentage of ammonia is too high, leading to adjustments of the percentage of ammonia used, which may affect the efficacy of the process. According to The New York Times, information obtained from both government and industry sources call into question effectiveness claims for the treatment in the school lunch program, these records show that since 2005, E. coli and salmonella pathogens have been found twice in Beef Products Inc. meat, which uses the process. The records include two consecutive incidents in August 2009 where two 27,000-pound batches were found to be contaminated. The contaminated product was removed before it could be distributed to students for consumption. That article and a similar one telling the story of a young woman paralyzed from eating one single E. coli-infected hamburger, produced by agribusiness giant Cargill, won a Pulitzer Prize for its author Michael Moss on Tuesday, April 13, 2010.
This one looks an industry view .. hmm, apparently the "form of ammonia called ammonium hydroxide is sometimes used in processing foods like baked goods, cheeses, chocolates", too ..
QSR chains shun ammonium hydroxide technology
MeatPoultry.com, Dec. 27, 2011
by Meat&Poultry Staff
WASHINGTON – McDonald’s, Burger King and Taco Bell have reportedly stopped using lean beef trimmings treated with ammonium hydroxide, according to an article posted on ArgusLeader.com. Lean beef trimmings are commonly used to produce various lower-fat blends of ground meat.
Beef Products Inc., (BPI) Dakota Dunes, SD, treats trimmings using this process, which it developed. It rids the beef trimmings of E. coli bacteria and other dangerous microbes by treating it with ammonium hydroxide, which is one of many government-approved chemicals used at various stages during processing to kill pathogens. USDA stands by the safety of the BPI product plus using ammonium hydroxide for controlling bacteria.
The fast-food chains’ decision to stop using this technology was lamented by David Theno, a well-known food-safety expert and industry consultant who has advised BPI. “It’s just a shame that an activist with an agenda can really degrade the safety of our food supply,” he said in reference to activist charges that some treated lean-beef trimmings that could be used in lower-quality ground meat destined for pet food, could also be sold for human consumption after the trimmings were treated. Theno called BPI’s process “extraordinarily effective” in making beef safer.
In a Meat MythCrushers video from the American Meat Institute in conjunction with the American Meat Science Association posted Oct. 17, Gary Acuff, Ph.D., director for food safety and professor of food microbiology at Texas A&M Univ., explains: “One form of ammonia called ammonium hydroxide is sometimes used in processing foods like baked goods, cheeses, chocolates and some beef products — this is not the same type of ammonia in household cleaners.” (Articles, fact sheets and a Q&A about the safe use of ammonium hydroxide in beef production are also included on the web page.)
BPI once said its treated product was in 70 percent of the hamburger sold in the US. But as a result of the fallout from activist charges, it has lost 25 percent of this business — but this part of the business is stabilizing, the article said.
BPI’s process uses ammonium hydroxide gas, which contains a minute fraction of ammonia to kill bacteria in lean beef trimmings, the company said. Ammonia is used extensively in the food industry, and it is found naturally in meat. Basically a mixture of water and ammonia, ammonium hydroxide is utilized in baked goods, cheeses, candy and other products, the International Food Information Council said.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the chemical for various purposes. Regarding meat, ammonium hydroxide lowers the acidity, making it inhospitable for bacteria to grow and survive.
Nancy Donley, who co-founded the consumer advocacy group STOP Foodborne Illness after her child died from eating a burger contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 in 1993, said critics of the process unfairly exploited the reality of how food is produced when the idea is to prevent human illness.
Australian burgers were just never as tasty as memories those your way .. don't know why .. i read once that much if not all of our best beef headed your way, not sure of that's still the case ..
Here the fillings were great! Ouch, but delicious back then .. the 'with the lot' had a slice of bacon, and beetroot (love it), etc etc .. always ate the beetroot separately .. i'm NOT talking about McDonald's etc, but small store ones .. fillings were good! .. the meat? .. don't know why it just didn't taste as good .. must be some 15 years since i've had one .. have had a couple at McDonald's, i used to drive a young friend there, and oh well, snack .. never liked theirs except the pickle .. strawberry milkshakes were always thicker down your way, too .. heh, now i feel like one .. almost both
Lol .. NO WAY! .. this is the WORST!!! .. IT'S TERRIBLE ..
STOP SIGN.. i'll put it down a bit so you don't have to see it .. you really don't want to ..
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