By John McGory
The Social Media Target of the Month for March was the ground beef product known as “pink slime.” A social media-led groundswell of distaste for the product has fast food restaurants and grocery stores dumping slime-infused ground beef at an alarming rate.
Meat processing plants in Iowa, Kansas and Texas have closed and another producer filed bankruptcy in wake of the public’s outcry. Governors of those states are calling for an investigation of the pink slime “smear campaign.”
Pink slime is lean, finely textured beef made by heating fatty bits of meat left over from other cuts to about 100 F and spinning it to remove most of the fat. The lean mix is then compressed into blocks for use in ground meat and treated with ammonium hydroxide gas to kill bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella. The byproduct is then used as filler for ground beef.
Until last year, schools, fast food restaurants and up to 70 percent of ground beef sold in grocery stores included pink slime. If you have eaten a hamburger in the past decade chances are you ate pink slime and survived.
The United States Department of Agriculture approved the use of the beef product process in 2001. In 2002, Gerald Zirnstein, a USDA microbiologist, coined the term “pink slime” in an email to his superiors.
The New York Times first reported on pink slime in 2009. Its critical report on the meat product raised eyebrows but did not slow sales at the time.
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver began a campaign against the product last year. Here is a video showing Oliver’s negative take on pink slime. The combination of Oliver’s television show and 1.4 million views on YouTube were enough to start the slime’s demise.
McDonalds, Taco Bell and Burger King stopped using the product earlier this year due to the onslaught of negative media attention. Grocery stores, schools and other institutions followed suit. AFA Foods, a large producer of the product, has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Beef Products has closed plants in Iowa, Kansas and Texas.
Where is the truth? It is hard to say. The biggest beef over the product is the use of ammonium hydroxide. It is used in numerous foods such as baked goods, cheese, milk and chocolate. It is approved by the USDA as a food additive. It is also used in many cosmetics.
The Republican governors of Iowa, Kansas and Texas are calling for a Congressional probe over the pink slime “smear campaign.” It is interesting to note that the meat producers have donated $820,000 to federal candidates in the past decade, with almost $800,000 going to Republicans.
What is fascinating is the speed of the “pink slime” industry demise. People ate the product for ten years and no one really complained. The 2009 Times article barely moved the public into action.
What changed? It is social media’s ability to grab people’s attention without a lot of facts. Pink slime is made by boiling fat and spraying it with ammonium hydroxide gas. It does not sound appealing. But I don’t think many Americans want to know how sausage is made, chickens are raised or what chemicals are added to Ho-Hos and Twinkies.
Social media takes no prisoners. A negative name, an unscientific public and a few blogs can end an industry. I can’t say it is right or wrong regarding “pink slime.” All I know is that pink slime is history and social media has another notch on its belt.
John McGory is a partner at Webface. They help companies and organizations from getting slimed through social media.
