Rethinking Hamburgers: Majority of Burgers Contain Ammonia-treated Mush

The NYTimes ran a compelling story Wednesday about the Nations’s processed hamburger meat, a majority of which contains  “a product made from beef that included fatty trimmings the industry once relegated to pet food and cooking oil.” That product is a liquified beef mush that is treated with ammonia gas to kill pathogens. The process is supposed to be cheap and effective. The resulting byproduct is combined with ground meat to make hamburgers.

Why? To keep costs down. Using the scraps instead of whole meat yields more hamburgers at a lower cost.

The story continues, “The trimmings were particularly susceptible to contamination, but a study commissioned by the company showed that the ammonia process would kill E. coli as well as salmonella.”

Oh, by the way, the treatment doesn’t always work, sometimes resulting in meat that remains contaminated or takes onan unacceptable ammonia odor.

So is your McD burger as wholesome as you think?

“With the U.S.D.A.’s stamp of approval, the company’s processed beef has become a mainstay in America’s hamburgers. McDonald’s, Burger King and other fast-food giants use it as a component in ground beef, as do grocery chains.”

This follows on the heels of another recent NYTimes burger story that may also change your drive-through habits.

I’m really struggling with this. I love burgers. I love meat. If God didn’t want us to eat cows and chicken and pigs, he wouldn’t have made them taste so good. But this Jekyllization of food has gone too far.

Maybe Food, Inc. was right. The whole greasy thing makes me happy I’ve changed to Akaushi beef for my burger fix at home. I’ve been to the ranch, seen the cattle, met the company’s owners, trust the product. You can order it here.