PROTECT CONSUMER JUSTICE.ORG

New York Times:  Michael Moss reports a technique used by South Dakota-based Beef Products Inc.–with the approval of the U.S. Department of Agriculture–to inject ammonia in its ground beef has not kept the company’s products free of E. coli and salmonella contamination.  The company said the ammonia treatment would kill such pathogens.  Beef Products uses “a product made from beef that included fatty trimmings the industry once relegated to pet food and cooking oil” to create a product that is a component of hamburgers at McDonald’s, Burger King and other establishments.  Dozens of instances of contamination have been found through tests required for beef sold to the school lunch program, but the USDA used the ammonia treatment as its reason for exempting Beef Products meat intended for the general public from such tests.

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