According to a report in Natural News, “beef sold to McDonald’s, Burger King, school lunches and other fast food restaurants” in the US is “injected with ammonia, a chemical commonly used in glass cleaning and window cleaning products.” The chemical is injected into the ‘extra cow parts’ or beef trimmings, eventually made into hamburgers at fast food restaurants, supposedly to kill the e.coli bacteria.

The original article in the New York Times claims that the ‘ammonia-injected beef comes from a company called Beef Products, Inc.’ that came upon the idea of ‘using ammonia to sterilize beef before selling it for human consumption.’

Unfortunately, ‘the ammonia doesn’t always kill the pathogens. Both e.coli and salmonella have been found contaminating the cow-derived products sold by this company.’

The report further adds that the phenomenon seems to be okay with the USDA that reportedly ‘endorses the procedure as a way to make the hamburger beef “safe” enough to eat.’ It is said that the USDA had been exempting the products of the beef company from the standard and mandatory ‘pathogen testing and product recalls.’

The USDA has the mandate to ensure food safety, among other things, but it exempted the beef company “because the ammonia injection process was deemed so effective that the meat products were thought to be safe beyond any question.”

The chemical used in glass cleaner solutions, it seems, has been ‘legally’ considered a ‘processing agent’ for cow-derived products such as hamburger meat. The fitting qualifier is “legally” because the USDA had apparently been granting approval and permission for its use in such meats.

So, what do you get when you cross appetite for meat with appetite for profit? Answer: ammonia-laced burgers. This tragedy is beyond description. Clearly, it’s a nightmare that consumerism has brought upon itself.

Image: en.wiki.org
Wikimedia Commons