Nutrition and healthy eating

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• April 11, 2012 3:50 p.m.

  I think the author probably meant a percentage of deaths could be postponed rather than prevented.

  - Ralph

• April 11, 2012 3:41 p.m.

  People will eat what they wish and suffer whatever consequences, good or bad, that go with the foods they eat. Killing a million couped up animals an hour in the USA, most filled with hormones and antibiotics, not to mention fat and animal protein shown to be detrimental when used regularly over long periods of time, has consequences on the environment and health of a nation. Looking to what the USDA says is a waste of time. They are staffed by or influenced by the dairy industry and its lobbyists. There are no studiens showing vegetarian diets, a lifestyle of eating plant-based whole foods such as potatoes, whole grains, winter squash, beans, and fresh vegetables and fruits that satifsy hunger, that is provide sufficient calories, is harmful. On the contrary, there are numerous studies showing such a way of eating prevents and reverses, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and many other chronic diseases. Those who wish to believe that slime, amonia, animal protein of any kind, added hormones and antibiotics, are going to help them maintain good health are welcome to consume such things. Institutions that wish to maintain respect whould provide us with information on the most healthful way of eating, not what industry and the USDA hopes they can sell us.

  - Tom

• April 11, 2012 3:37 p.m.

  I amazed at this article being published by Mayo Clinic but yet under their Healthy Recipe section this week - Steak with Steamed Vegetables at a 2 oz serving but the article indicates the suggested serving size for the death prevention of the study as being 1.5 ounces- so which is it, yes or no? Anything to cause "fear"

  - Vickie

• April 11, 2012 3:15 p.m.

  Go to YouTube.com type in "pink slime".A pro chef will show and tell you what and where it come from.

  - Phillip

• April 11, 2012 3:12 p.m.

  I'm really surprised that two Mayo Clinic nutritionists know so little about food processing. First, the product is called Lean Finely Textured Beef (LFTB) or Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings (BLBT), although the addition of "trimmings" to LFTB in the article does seem to make it sound less appetizing. Second, the product is not made from connective beef tissue (versus meat muscle) and fat. This statement could not be more incorrect. It is made from meat (meat muscle) and connective tissue--no fat. Third, get the chemical right--it's ammonium hydroxide. Fourth, the ammonium hydroxide treatment to eliminate bacteria in food has been shown to be highly effective. As stated in another comment, it is used in the purification of other foods. Fifth, there has not been one reported instance of a health issue due to LFTB; in the past several years, sickness problems have been reported due to contamination in chicken meat, eggs, and a number of vegetables. Finally, if "regular" ground beef has 15% of it (or any percentage for that matter) replaced with LFTB, it will be lower in fat content than the original ground beef, since LFTB has essentially no fat. Other than the fact that this article says that studies show that eating less red meat is better for your health (which has nothing to do with the subject of LFTB) it gets a zero for scientific value.

  - Dave

• April 11, 2012 3:05 p.m.

  I am 85 & I have seen my mother clean out chickens. The slime is probably the gizzard, liver, cleaned intestens, etc. According to one blogger, amonia does not hurt us. Okay, that is fine with me, but what I don't like is the price of paying for crappy stuff. I want ground meat not the slim that take more labor to process. My mother used to buy a chuck steak and once it was cut, she'd tell the butcher to grind it. They did not always like to do that but she'd walk out if they didn't. So everyone buy yourselves a grinder. ;o)

  - Sue

• April 11, 2012 3:04 p.m.

  How is it that the human race did not become extinct ...considering all that our ancestors ate ...was meat they "hunted" and what they "gathered" ? I agree with some of the other comments: there is meat ...and there is meat. What about the studies that show the devasting effects that vegetarian or other drastic dieting can have? Half a serving of meat? Hmmmmm....9

  - Petrie

• April 11, 2012 2:55 p.m.

  This article should have been about three sentences long, judging by the article's title and its content related to the title. In fact, its a waste of time with a misleading title.

  - George

• April 11, 2012 2:54 p.m.

  I think maybe with the exception of iodine being added to salt, our food should not contain any vitamins or additives of any kind. I can remember my daughterin-law from Denmark reading the side of our orange juice container and remarking that the additives would never be allowed in Denmark. When on rare occaision, I buy a pound of hamburg, it should be just that and only that. Food is meant to be pure.

  - Carol

• April 11, 2012 2:49 p.m.

  Just how lean is this "pink slime"?

  - Ron

• April 11, 2012 2:35 p.m.

  So what IS the take away about pink slime? Please advise.

  - jane

• April 11, 2012 2:29 p.m.

  Not distinguishing between bologna, pepperoni, and lean beef renders the study pretty much worthless. And this entire discussion is really only about factory farmed meat. Go to a farmers market, get to know your producers. For my money I'd rather eat locally produced grass-fed beef than soy or salmon produced industrially.

  - MS

• April 11, 2012 2:21 p.m.

  Very disappointing article. If you're going to post an article on "pink slime", then talk about it.

  - newman

• April 11, 2012 2:07 p.m.

  Lean Finely Textured Beef fact sheet: http://sdda.sd.gov/LFTB%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf Food?grade ammonium hydroxide (basically ammonia + water), which has been declared safe by the Food and Drug Administration since 1974, is used to produce a number of products such as puddings and baked goods and can be used in the processing of boneless lean beef trimmings to control any harmful bacteria that may be present in the raw, fresh product. Ammonia is naturally occurring, found in the human body, beef, other proteins, and virtually all foods. It plays an important role in the body’s nitrogen cycle and in helping the body synthesize the protein. It also maintains the pH level that the body needs.

  - Angus

• April 11, 2012 2:07 p.m.

  Come on, Jennifer, this is sloppy writing. One serving of red meat per what? Surely not once in 30 years of measurement. And while I understand (and have long ago changed our menus to less red meat), I doubt that lower meat consumption can "prevent" ANY deaths. It might delay a death or prevent an episode or increase life expectancy at a given age, but I don't think we know how to prevent death.

  - JFK

• April 11, 2012 7:19 a.m.

  FDA. Who greases(no pun intended) their pockets?

  - Denny

• April 10, 2012 10:47 p.m.

  Dear Bob, Please cite your source which claims that our food industry is the best in the world. Many countries will not import our beef (hormones) and other foods that they consider unsuitable for human consumption.

  - Elian

• April 10, 2012 5:37 p.m.

  As for the pink-slime-ick" factor, ever take a good look at a tuna salad? Lets not ask our food industry (the best in the world) to "process pretty".

  - Bob

• April 10, 2012 1:53 p.m.

  YES CHRISTY! This article is nothing but fluff---worthless considering the title NOT addressed OR any of the topics you state. Lack or research, knowledge, or fear of offending some industry-- or the FDA?

  - c.f.

• April 10, 2012 1:06 p.m.

  I am in my 60's and while I admittedly have not always eaten healthy I'm very conscious of nutrition. My problem is with the constant media bombardment of these "eat this but not that or else.." food items. Every time you turn on the TV it's something else that you must eliminate. Soon there will be not much left that one can eat, drink, breathe or smell that is appetizing. I wonder if there is so much "off limits" that people will reject the whole idea of eating healthy in favor of moderation only.

  - Susan

• April 10, 2012 12:57 p.m.

  I rarely eat beef but the unlabeled presence of ammonia hydroxide in any food is unsettling, so your raising the issue is important. To Barbara, I would say that it may be a good thing for Mayo to include recipes like the steak with steamed vegetables. If you look at it, the serving size works out to only 2 oz of uncooked beef, so this could be a good place for those who still eat a lot of meat to start working on reducing their intake.

  - hl

• April 10, 2012 12:27 p.m.

  I agree about not eating much red meat. Since that is better, why are we getting recipes for "Steak with steamed vegetables" this week? Why not more poultry, fish and vegetarian recipes that are really good? Also, that first paragraph about how much red meat to eat doesn't say, "day, week, month, year" as the other person's comment said. I love the "lifetime" sentence! Thanks for adding some humor to all this.

  - Barbara

• April 8, 2012 7:45 a.m.

  So, basically what we're being told is, if we eat red meat, we're increasing our chances of cancer. I get that, it's been taught all of our lives. The less you consume, the better. Simple fact. What I want to know is, does this study only deal with processed or packaged red meat, or does this study also include fresh, home-raised, corn-fed beef that we raise ourselves. All other red meats will have added preservatives and "goodies" added to them. This information needs to be more specific, and less misleading in it's findings.

  - DeWayne

• April 6, 2012 10:32 a.m.

  So in response to the issue of pink slime, the only words of wisdom we can take away from this article is "The USDA says this is safe." Everything else stated doesn't apply at all to the issue of pink slime and the fact that, up until 2001, it was only used in dog food. Additionally, it is used in school lunches, restaurants, and can be found in the grocery store, unlabeled in the hamburger we buy. How about answering: is it nutritionally inferior to "regular" beef? Is it used in organic-labeled packages? Does the ammonia affect our bodies? If it isn't required to be labeled, how can we avoid it? Do hospitals serve it? WHY are people up in arms about it? Is its safety being contested, or is it all about the "gross out" factor? Honestly. I'm not even a college grad and only have an interest in nutrition and am pretty sure I could have done a better job addressing this issue in a way that actually.....(ding! ding!) addressed the issue.

  - Christy

• April 5, 2012 10:28 a.m.

  One serving of red meat - is that per lifetime? Per month? per week? per day? not very specific; if it's one serving in a lifetime, we're all dead real soon now.

  - Eloise