Pink Slime Time !! .. Tina, the last batch of textured beef ...item 4.. Three 'pink slime' factories closing after controversy decreases sales (7 May 2012) ...

Pink Slime Time !! .. Tina, the last batch of textured beef ...item 4.. Three 'pink slime' factories closing after controversy decreases sales (7 May 2012) ...

Image by marsmet471
The plant in Amarillo, Texas, the plant in Garden City, Kansas, and the one in Waterloo, Iowa will close on May 25. A plant in South Sioux City, Nebraska, will remain open but run at reduced capacity.

The South Dakota-based company blamed the closures on what it said were unfounded attacks over its lean, finely textured beef.
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.....item 1)... Mail Online ... Daily Mail ... www.dailymail.co.uk/news ...

'Pink slime' company files for bankruptcy amid controversy over the ammonia treated filler

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 12:09 EST, 2 April 2012 | UPDATED: 12:41 EST, 2 April 2012

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2124098/Pink-slime-compa...

A company that makes ‘pink slime’ products has filed for bankruptcy as the backlash against the controversial beef filler continues.

AFA Foods has announced that it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and selling its assets after the public outcry over the beef substance derailed its efforts to save its already struggling business.

The Pennsylvania-based company processes more than 500 million pounds of ground beef products a year and distribute to retailers including Wal-Mart and Safeways – both supermarkets that no longer sell beef containing ‘pink slime.’
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img code photo ...

i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/02/article-0-1264E5E90000...

'Pink slime': AFA Foods, which makes products containing the controversial beef substance known as 'pink slime', has filed for bankruptcy

Reuters

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AFA Foods, which also sells products under the brand names Moran's, Stone River Ranch and Miller Quality Meats, provide beef to customers including Burger King, Wendy's and Jack in the Box.

More...

...Junk food is not just bad for your waistline... it can give you the blues too
...Snakes on a train! PETA plans to drape fake animals on public transport in campaign against wearing skins

The bankruptcy comes a week after Beef Products Inc, another company which sells ‘pink slime’, announced they were suspending operations at three of four plants where the beef ingredient is made.

Beef Products Inc. have stopped operations at its plants in Texas, Kansas, and Iowa - a move that will affect 650 jobs.

The company's South Dakota headquarters will continue operations.

Last week the governors of three states toured a Beef Products’ plant to demonstrate their support of the product.
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img code photo ...

i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/02/article-0-1264EAF00000...

Backlash: AFA Foods processes more than 500 million pounds of beef products a year and counts Burger King and Wendy's among its customers

Reuters

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Former GOP candidate Rick Perry was pictured chomping down on a burger made with the chemically-treated left-over bits of meat during the tour with Kansas Governor Sam Brownback and Iowa's Terry Branstad.

Federal regulators say the ammonia-treated filler, known in the industry as 'lean, finely textured beef,' meets food safety standards.

But critics say the product could be unsafe and is an unappetizing example of industrialized food production.
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img code photo ... Texas Governor Rick Perry

i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/02/article-0-1264CA550000...

Support: Last week Texas Gov. Rick Perry showed his support for Beef Products Inc by tucking into a 'pink slime' burger during a tour of one of their plants

AP

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The low-cost ingredient is made from fatty bits of meat left over from other cuts. The bits are heated and spun to remove most of the fat. The lean mix then is compressed into blocks for use in ground meat.

The product is exposed to ammonium hydroxide gas to kill bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella.

The product has been used for years, but it wasn't until earlier this month that social media suddenly exploded with worry and an online petition seeking it to be ousted from schools garnered hundreds of thousands of supporters.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture decided to allow school districts to stop using it and some retail chains have pulled products containing it from their shelves.

In the affidavit filed as part of AFA Foods’ bankruptcy, interim CEO Ron Allen said the company's profits have suffered because of decreasing retail demand, costly customer demands for product testing and growing competition from different types of meat.

AFA Foods had had been pursuing a turnaround strategy to increase sales to retail customers, but Allen said that the 'unfounded public outcry' over the use pink slime, known in the industry as lean, finely textured beef strained those efforts.

AFA Foods said it secured million in financing from its lenders to fund operations and expects to continue serving customers throughout the process.
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.....item 2)... Florida Today ... www.floridatoday.com ... Jeff Parker: Cartoon Caption Contest 4/3

4:56 PM, Apr. 2, 2012

www.floridatoday.com/proart/20120403/columnists0204/12040...|newswell|text|home|p&pagerestricted=1

April 3, 2012 / Jeff Parker, FLORIDA TODAY
FILED UNDER
Columnists
Jeff Parker Cartoons

Pink slime time... Come up with a snarky caption for this cartoon, email it to us, and we'll sort the best and funniest punchlines from the rest. Then, on the following Monday, we'll post the winner's name and caption along with two runners-up here at JPTI as well as in the print edition of FLORIDA TODAY.

Since you'll be writing for a cartoon, we've added the professional feel by setting a deadline for you -- please e-mail your entries to us by 4pm Thursday.

In your e-mail message, be sure to include your name and where you live. E-mail: jparker@floridatoday.com

Challenge your office co-workers, friends and families.

Captions submitted as comments will be disqualified.

A few guidelines:

-Please keep your captions clean and libelous-free. Remember, we're a family newspaper.
-Keep it brief. I know it's difficult, but bear in mind the funniest cartoons depend on brevity for maximum effect. And since these are editorial cartoons, don't spare the vinegar.
-Be original. Don't go for an obvious gag line that 20 other people will come up with.

Most of all, have fun!
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.....item 3A).... Plot Summary for Soylent Green (1973)

A tale of Earth in despair in 2022. Natural food like fruits, vegetables, and meat among others are now extinct. Earth is overpopulated and New York City has 40 million starving, poverty stricken people. The only way they survive is with water rations and eating a mysterious food called Soylent. A detective investigates the murder of the president of the Soylent company. The truth he uncovers is more disturbing than the Earth in turmoil when he learns the secret ingredient of Soylent Green. Written by Mystic80

MOVIE INFO

Richard Fleischer directed this nightmarish science fiction vision of an over-populated world, based on the novel by Harry Harrison. In 2022, New York City is a town bursting at the seams with a 40-million-plus population. Food is in short supply, and most of the population's food source comes from synthetics manufactured in local factories -- the dinner selections being a choice between Soylent Red, Soylent Yellow, or Soylent Green. When William Simonson (Joseph Cotten), an upper-echelon executive in the Soylent Company, is found murdered, police detective Thorn (Charlton Heston) is sent in to investigate the case. Helping him out researching the case is Thorn's old friend Sol Roth (Edward G. Robinson, in his final film role). As they investigate the environs of a succession of mad-from-hunger New Yorkers and the luxuriously rich digs of the lucky few, Thorn uncovers the terrible truth about the real ingredients of Soylent Green. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

In Theaters: May 9, 1973 Wide
On DVD: Aug 5, 2003

PG, 1 hr. 35 min.
Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Classics, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Directed By: Richard Fleischer
Written By: Harry Harrison, Stanley R. Greenberg
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.....item 3B).... youtube video ... Soylent Green trailer ... 3:26 minutes

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVpN312hYgU

Uploaded by transfofa on Aug 20, 2006

one of the bests sci-fi movies

Category:
Entertainment

Tags:
soylent green trailer science fiction sci-fi movies charlton heston

License:
Standard YouTube License
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.....item 3C).... youtube video ... Soylent Green Euthanasia Scene/Ending (favorite scene) ... 6:30 minutes..

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYTIgcMRdbU

Uploaded by omjeremy on Nov 22, 2010

My Favorite Scene from Soylent Green

Category:
Entertainment

Tags:
Soylent Green Ending
License:
Standard YouTube License
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.....item 4)... Mail Online ... Daily Mail ... www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ ... Three 'pink slime' factories closing after controversy decreases sales

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER and ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 21:27 EST, 7 May 2012 | UPDATED: 22:41 EST, 7 May 2012

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2141064/Three-pink-slime...

Three of the controversial factories that produced the so-called ‘pink slime’ that disgusted the nation will close later this month.

Roughly 650 jobs will be lost when the plants in Texas, Kansas and Iowa are closed by parent company Beef Products Inc. in light of poor sales.

The plant in Amarillo, Texas, the plant in Garden City, Kansas, and the one in Waterloo, Iowa will close on May 25. A plant in South Sioux City, Nebraska, will remain open but run at reduced capacity.

The South Dakota-based company blamed the closures on what it said were unfounded attacks over its lean, finely textured beef.

During its processing, bits of beef are heated and treated with a small amount of ammonia to kill bacteria. The filler has been used for years and meets federal food safety standards.

But the company suspended operations at the three plants in March amid public uproar over the filler.

BPI has declined to discuss financial details, but has said it took a 'substantial' hit after social media exploded with worry over the product and an online petition seeking its ouster from schools drew hundreds of thousands of supporters.

More...

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...Vodka company cashes in on violence with bottle mapping San Diego's notorious gangs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has decided that school districts may stop using it, and some retail chains have pulled products containing it from their shelves.

Company officials had hoped to recover but have since realized that doing so wasn't possible in the near future.

'We will continue communicating the benefits of BPI's lean beef, but that process is much more difficult than (countering) the campaign to spread misinformation that brought us to this point,' company spokesman Rich Jochum said in a statement.

State executives who have supported the company blamed what they considered a smear campaign against the product, which has drawn scrutiny even though they and industry officials insist that it's safe.

'This is a sad day for the state of Iowa,' said Iowa Governor Terry Branstad.

'The fact that a false, misleading smear campaign can destroy a company's reputation overnight should disturb us all.'

The Republican governor said the workers will 'go home to their families and will soon be without a job, all because some media on the coasts decided to unfairly and viciously smear the product they so proudly produced.'

The phrase 'pink slime,' coined by a federal microbiologist, has appeared in the media at least since a critical 2009 New York Times report.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has railed against it, and it made headlines after McDonald's and other major chains discontinued their use last year.

But a recent piece by The Daily on the USDA's purchase of meat that included 'pink slime' for school lunches touched a nerve with a Texas blogger who focuses on kids' food.

She started an online petition asking U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to halt its use in school food, and the USDA will give schools the option of choosing ground beef that doesn't contain it starting in the fall.

Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman called the plant closings 'unfortunate and needless,' and said the product BPI produced is safe for consumption.

'BPI is a good family-owned business, and we will continue to work with them in an effort to continue to promote their safe and healthy beef,' Mr Heineman said.

Several politicians who toured one of the plants in March – including Mr Branstad, Texas governor Rick Perry, Kansas governor Sam Brownback, Nebraska lieutenant governor Rick Sheehy and South Dakota lieutenant governor Matt Michels- all agreed with the industry view that the beef has been unfairly maligned and mislabelled.

The public backlash against the product offers an important lesson to other food makers in the social-media age, said Marion Nestle, a nutrition and food-studies professor at New York University.

She noted that past food controversies, such as criticism of trans fats, took years to surface as major public issues, whereas social media enabled the campaign against 'pink slime' to quickly attract widespread public attention.

Ms Nestle also said BPI misinterpreted the public concern as a food-safety issue, instead of recognizing that critics were focused on not knowing what was added to their food and the belief that they were deceived.

'It's always sad when people are put out of work,' Ms Nestle said.

'But this company, they could have handled the whole situation differently. ... They were faced with a public relations disaster of really astonishing proportions.'
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