Infographic of the Week: ‘Pink Slime’ & Processed Red Meat Are Bad for You

“Pink slime,” or “lean, finely textured beef” filler treated with ammonia to kill bacteria, has been making the headlines recently in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture decision to make 7 million pounds of ground beef containing “pink slime” available to school districts for use in school meals.

Red Meat Is Killing You, an infographic created by onlineassociatesdegree.com, visualizes the staggering results of a study recently published by the Archives of Internal Medicine that says excessive meat consumption can kill you. It also does an excellent job of explaining what “pink slime’ is and how it’s made, for which it is being featured on Food+Tech Connect.

I am no expert, but as with most foods, quality and quantity seem to be by far the most important factors to consider when choosing to eat meat. This is certainly the case when it comes to concerns regarding “pink slime,” as Ulla Kjarval writes on Spring Lake Farm’s website:

“Pink slime is an industrial product, but with a thriving local meat scene and more and more farmers selling their meat directly, there are more options for meat that contains single source ground beef. Here at Spring Lake Farm we use two local processors: Larry’s Custom Meats and Steiner Packing Company. Both of these small local slaughterhouses grind our meat from single animals and never, ever use pink slime or mix meats from other animals in our meats. Most small processors around the country do this too. So buying from a local farmer or processor will ensure that you aren’t eating pink slime or meat from thousands of different animals.”

Fast Company has conveniently broken the infographic into two parts, which are listed in reverse order below.

And while the study assumedly refers to industrially produced meat, the data featured in this infographic fails differentiate between the health implications of industrially versus sustainably produced meat. I have yet to find if any such data exists. If you know of any related research,  please let the food+tech community know in the comments section below.