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"  Earlier this year, McDonald&amp;#039;s and other fast-food chains announced, after much public outcry, that they would no longer use &amp;quot;pink slime&amp;quot; in their hamburgers. But if you think your days of &amp;quot;pink slime&amp;quot; hamburgers are over, think again. Public schools nationwide will continue to use the ingredient in the meals prepared for kids. According to The Daily, the U.S. Department of Agriculture continues to purchase &amp;quot;pink slime&amp;quot; for school lunches and isn&amp;#039;t going to stop the practice. &amp;quot;Pink slime&amp;quot; is a Beef Products Inc. creation, made by grinding connective tissue and beef scraps, which are then treated with ammonia hydroxide to kill any potential harmful pathogens. More From Delish: 17 Healthy Recipes for Kids Gerald Zirnstein, a former microbiologist at the Food Safety Inspection Service, was the first person to use the term &amp;quot;pink slime&amp;quot; because he didn&amp;#039;t &amp;quot;consider the stuff to be ground beef.&amp;quot; Now Zirnstein asserts that he doesn&amp;#039;t want his 2-year-old child to be subjected to the stuff when he eventually begins school. The USDA is planning to purchase 7 million pounds of &amp;quot;Lean Beef Trimmings,&amp;quot; now more commonly referred to as &amp;quot;pink slime,&amp;quot; from Beef Products Inc. in the next few months for the national school lunch program, reports The Daily. The USDA stated that their ground beef purchases, &amp;quot;meet the highest standard for food safety.&amp;quot; But Zirstein and Carl Custer, another former employee of the Food Safety Inspection Service, are primarily concerned because &amp;quot;pink slime&amp;quot; shouldn&amp;#039;t be considered meat. Even more alarming is that due to lenient labeling laws, it will be impossible for parents to know when their kids will be served &amp;quot;pink slime&amp;quot; as a part of their hamburger patty or other ground beef-containing lunch. More From Delish: Really Cool Cafeterias What&amp;#039;s even more confusing is that leaders in the fast-food industry recently dropped the product, but the national school lunch program, which has undergone major changes this year to create healthier menus, will continue to use the ingredient. What do you think: Should the USDA be allowed to purchase &amp;quot;pink slime&amp;quot; for use in schools? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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