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McDonald's ditches use of 'pink slime' in U.S. meat, chef Jamie Oliver celebrates

On Thursday, McDonald's announced they have discontinued the use of ammonium hydroxide as a processor in their U.S. beef -- an ingredient chef Jamie Oliver has lobbied to eliminate, which results in a beef product he calls ‘pink slime’.  

“The food activist was shocked when he learned that ammonium hydroxide was being used by McDonald's to convert fatty beef offcuts into a beef filler for its burgers in the USA,” reports the Daily Mail.

In an episode of Oliver's television show -- Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution -- he says parts of the cow that are “not fit for human consumption” because of too much bacteria are processed with ammonium hydroxide for humans to eat.

“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 says in the same episode.

See the video here:

 

The company that produces beef for McDonald’s USA -- Beef Products Inc. -- writes on their website that the purpose of the ammonium hydroxide is to eliminate any potential bacteria, such as E.coil.  

However, U.S. Department of Agriculture microbiologist Geral Zirnstein believes that ammonium hydroxide should be banned, reports the Daily Mail.

Ammonium hydroxide is not used at McDonald’s in Canada, a spokeswoman for McDonald’s Canada tells the National Post. She says the only ingredients used in their burgers are 100% beef, salt and pepper.