Junior Hailey Hendrix picks up her hamburger during lunch eyeing it questionably. Through all the years she has eaten these burgers, she has never truly known what makes up the beef.
“I don’t mind the hamburgers at school,” said Hendrix. “To me, food is food. I just eat whatever looks best.”
Due to the recent controversy regarding lean finely textured beef, otherwise known as “pink slime,” questions have been raised regarding to whether or not the beef served in cafeterias throughout the district contains lean finely textured beef.
“Our food supply is very closely monitored, with govt. inspections, and our food service staff here at Springdale Schools do know how to prepare food in a manner that food-borne pathogens are not a concern as far as the e-coli in ground beef, so I was not overly concerned with the issue,” said head of food services for the district Ms. Carol Godfrey.
Lean finely textured beef is produced from finely ground beef scraps and connective tissue which have been mechanically removed from the fat. The recovered material is processed, heated, and treated with ammonia gas to kill E. coli, salmonella, and other bacteria. It is finely ground, compressed into blocks and flash frozen for use in as a filler in beef products.
The beef being distributed to the schools in the district is not purchased from companies who produce lean finely textured beef. The beef being served in the district’s cafeterias is specified as ground beef with soy concentrate, flame broiled and pre-cooked. This school year, the district has been purchasing beef patties from Tyson Foods Inc. After checking Tyson Foods about this recent issue, the district was assured that Tyson Foods does not use any lean finely textured beef in the patties purchased for use in the Child Nutrition Program.
“We write out specifications for ground beef that we plan to purchase according to the amount of lean beef and fat content, and send out the request for purchase, RFP, to reputable food service distributors in out area,” said Ms. Godfrey.
All products purchased for the school cafeterias must have a United State Drug Administration or a state department of agriculture’s inspection stamp. This stamp indicates that the product and processing plant have met certain standards.
There has been some concern from parents and guardians regarding whether or not the schools are feeding their children lean finely textured beef.
“I have had one grandparent (who is a former employee of the child nutrition dept.) call me about this. She was wanting reassurance that we would not be serving her grandchildren anything that would cause them harm. As I said previously, our child nutrition dept. is choosing to discontinue purchasing any product that has this in it,” said Ms. Godfrey.
While Springdale Schools does not use lean finely texture beef, the issue is still present. Everyone has the right to know what they are eating and have the reassurance that it is safe.
“My biggest concern is that we have had this product in our food supply for these past 20 plus years and were not aware of it’s existence. Consumers have a right to know what they are purchasing and what they are eating. We need to be able to make informed decisions about what we are serving ourselves and especially our children,” said Ms. Godfrey.