The fallout from the “Pink Slime” (lean finely textured beef) overreaction has come to roost this week. Ground beef prices are up considerably as the beef trimmings market is bid up by former users of this meat. The timing could not be worse. The demand for ground beef and burgers is in its high season. The Memorial Day holiday kicks off the summer grilling season, and is the third highest weekend for beef purchases. July Fourth is number one, followed by the Labor Day weekend.
So as large retail super markets like Kroger (the nation’s largest retail food store operator), Wegmans, Wal-Mart and others abandon lean finely textured beef, they need to fill the holiday demand for ground beef products. And retail drives the beef industry. Big demand, small supply, higher prices.
Cattle herds are already historically low. It is estimated that 1.5 million head of cattle would be needed yearly to make up the loss of lean finely texture beef. They don’t exist. If 1.5 million calves were born this week, it would take 2 years before they hit the market.
Admittedly, I had never heard of “lean finely textured beef “. But over the last 30 years this process has been safely used to separate small pieces of lean meat from fatty trimming that otherwise would have been sent to the rendering plant. The process heats these trimmings to 100 degrees, and then spins them. The liquefied fat is removed, leaving only small pieces of red meat trimmings.
In order to prevent the growth of any bacteria, these trimmings are exposed to ammonium hydroxide, which reacts to moisture in the beef and raises the PH to a level that microbes cannot survive. This practice is what was deemed most controversial. However the amounts used are small parts per billion. And the track record for this product is unblemished for over 30 years.
The analogy that works best for me is Chlorine. It can kill you. But added to swimming pools it prevents water born microbes from developing. We swallow this Chlorinated water inevitably, and all of us who have swum in these pools have swallowed the water. Survivors all.
Mike Devitt
Vice President of Marketing
Chilean Seabass
Indian Ridge Provisions is committed to providing fish that are harvested responsibly, whether farm raised or wild, and our Chilean Sea Bass is a great example of that.
Chilean Seabass is undoubtedly one of the world’s best eating fish. Their high fat content, firm yet flaky texture and ability to hold up to any cooking method, especially grilling, made it one of the most popular fish on fine dining menus.
Unfortunately, its popularity attracted unscrupulous fishing fleets that skirted the existing laws on quotas. This led to the over-fishing of this great natural resource. Chefs and watch dog groups like the Monterey Bay Aquarium raised the alarm about the ongoing exploitation of this valuable fish.
Because of this, the countries losing this natural resource increased naval enforcement and new rules for tracking the fishing vessels that are legally allowed to fish for Chilean Seabass were enacted. Today we can offer a legal, sustainable and traceable high quality Chilean Seabass.
Our Chilean Seabass is harvested from theSouth GeorgiaIslandsfishery. It is a Marine Stewardship Council certified sustainable biomass. The fish are caught, cleaned and the head removed. They are then frozen on the boat immediately. This is how Indian Ridge purchases Chilean Sea Bass.
Once in house, we temper the Seabass overnight in large totes of cold water, and then fillet them to order. You can get skin-on fillets, boneless skinless fillets, or have us portion the fillets for you.