Thread: Company to close 3 plants over 'pink slime' ground beef

Originally Posted by jet57

That stuff is really just filler crap and is used to add weight and manipulate the price of beef. I don't think it should be there, and it's about time we stared cracking down on food additives. With as many cattle as we have in the world the prices shouldn't be so high in my view. And besides, we're talking about Kobe beef.

What do you mean by high? Almost any cut of beef available at Krogers is cheaper than most cuts of any other meat (not including lunch meats). And that includes those that can't be "manipulated" through the use of fillers.

Originally Posted by 1751Texan

My Governor and Ex-Presidential candidate Rick Perry(R Tx) wanted to pass a Law in Texas if anyone "maligned" pink slime.

I haven't heard about that, but it wouldn't surprise me since the state of Texas actually sued Oprah Winfry for "slandaring" the beef industry when she said she'd never eat another hamburger after having toured a cattle farm, or some such.

Originally Posted by tessaesque

What do you mean by high? Almost any cut of beef available at Krogers is cheaper than most cuts of any other meat (not including lunch meats). And that includes those that can't be "manipulated" through the use of fillers.

The price of meat is too high. Fillers like pink slime, keep it high. I think that trying to say that other meat is higher is just a cop out: you have to prover me wrong . . . That's a cop out. Beff is too high a price per pound.

Originally Posted by jet57

The price of meat is too high. Fillers like pink slime, keep it high. I think that trying to say that other meat is higher is just a cop out: you have to prover me wrong . . . That's a cop out. Beff is too high a price per pound.

How do you justify that statement? And how does a filler make the price higher?

Originally Posted by tessaesque

How do you justify that statement? And how does a filler make the price higher?

Filler is useless material that only adds weight to a product that is charged by the pound: that's how I justify it.

It's cheating.

Originally Posted by jet57

Filler is useless material that only adds weight to a product that is charged by the pound: that's how I justify it.

It's cheating.

If the price of beef were really too high, and it were possible to produce meat without pink slime for a lower price, then you'd see competition in the marketplace doing just that. But the fact of the matter is that beef prices are lower than they have ever been, and that price has been set because of the technological capabilities of the market today.

Originally Posted by Nick2253

If the price of beef were really too high, and it were possible to produce meat without pink slime for a lower price, then you'd see competition in the marketplace doing just that. But the fact of the matter is that beef prices are lower than they have ever been, and that price has been set because of the technological capabilities of the market today.

Not when they're engaged in price fixing: it's just like oil.

Originally Posted by jet57

Not when they're engaged in price fixing: it's just like oil.

Ah, conspiracy theories. Except we pay a crap load less in the US than outside the country, including countries with large cattle populations:

1 lb. Ground Beef:

Sample of U.S. Prices (as of August 2010):
Portland, Oregon: $2.79 Little Rock, Arkansas: $3.10 Los Angeles, California: $5.29
1 lb. Ground Beef:

Sample of World Prices:
Canada: $3.07 Germany: $4.93 Australia: $5.75 Belgium: $6.06 South Africa: $7.04 London: $9.03 Paris: $11.20 Taiwan: $11.50

Beef Prices Around the Globe | Beef.com

Originally Posted by jet57

Not when they're engaged in price fixing: it's just like oil.

If anything, the price of beef is too low due to price fixing. (Feds Probe Major Meatpackers over Price Fixing - CBS News)

Don't just spout of random ideas without sourcing them.

Fillers are used in food to lower costs and/or prices, not raise them. As has been mentioned, if it were cheaper to not use fillers, they would. It would be gross economic stupidity to use fillers and lose money by doing so.