Well good news for all the McDonald's lovers out there. McDonald's has confirmed that they have stopped using ammonium hydroxide in their burgers. Aside from being used to produce hamburgers at McDonalds, ammonium hydroxide is used in fertilizers, household cleaners, and even some homemade explosives. After using ammonium hydroxide for many years, McDonald's senior director of quality systems Todd Bacon said, ""At the beginning of 2011, we made a decision to discontinue the use of ammonia-treated beef in our hamburgers. This product has been out of our supply chain since August of last year. This decision was a result of our efforts to align our global standards for how we source beef around the world." By using ammonium hydroxide, McDonald's was able to use what would be considered inedible meat. Eric Pfeiffer listed many other questionable chemicals found in food today. I was sad to find out that some ice creams contain Propylene Gycol, which helps prevent the ice cream from becoming too solid (works similar as to how an anti-freeze would). Shellac, more commonly known for it's wood finishing work is sometimes found in hard candies. Lanolin is an oily product from sheeps' wool that is used in gum to make it chewy. I was shocked to read some of these facts but I was more disturbed to think that I could have eaten something that contains a product that is used on floors...
Author Eric Pfeiffer used all logos when writing this article. Although he included a quote from a McDonald's spokesperson, the quote was all about facts. I like how he expanded the article into more than McDonald's. He included more un-safe chemicals used in food that should not be and I love how he tied it all together under the one topic of McDonald's. He knew his audience was part of the fast-food generation so by making the focus of his article about McDonald's, he was able to draw people in. Although it was gross, one of the best features to the article was the picture included. When you first see it, you might think it is a pink powder base used for strawberry milkshakes, but as you look closer you will notice it is too slimy to be a milkshake. It is, in fact, a big chain of meat used at McDonald's that has ammonium hydroxide in it. If that doesn't turn you away from a Big Mac then I don't know what will!
McDonald's Confirms That it's no Longer Using "Pink Slime" in Chemical in Hamburgers by Eric Pfeiffer
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/mcdonald-confirms-no-longer-using-pink-slime-chemicals-171209662.html
That's disgusting...I'm kind of more scared about what else might be in those burgers than I am relieved that they stopped using this stuff.
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