Brevard County Public School Children Do Not Eat Pink Slime
MELBOURNE, Florida -- Brevard County Public Schools do not use meat treated with ammonium-hydroxide in their school lunches, otherwise known as 'pink slime' or 'soylent pink.'
Brevard County Public School Food and Nutrition Services Director Kevin M. Thornton told Brevard Times in an email today that:
"The Office of Food and Nutrition (FNS) does NOT purchase its ground beef from USDA but rather from the J.T.M. Food Group. In a statement from Brian Hofmeier, Senior Director of Schools Sales for the J.T.M. Food Group, he states “J.T.M does not use ammonium hydroxide in our process and we do not purchase material from any suppliers that use ammonium hydroxide in their process.” FNS works closely with all food suppliers to ensure the highest quality of products are served to our students. We understand the importance of the service we provide. "
"The Office of Food and Nutrition (FNS) does NOT purchase its ground beef from USDA but rather from the J.T.M. Food Group. In a statement from Brian Hofmeier, Senior Director of Schools Sales for the J.T.M. Food Group, he states “J.T.M does not use ammonium hydroxide in our process and we do not purchase material from any suppliers that use ammonium hydroxide in their process.” FNS works closely with all food suppliers to ensure the highest quality of products are served to our students. We understand the importance of the service we provide. "
The U.S.D.A. recently came under fire for purchasing 7 million pounds of 'pink slime' for use in school lunches in other school districts despite the fact that both McDonald's and Taco Bell have stopped using the chemically treated meat trimmings in their respective restaurants.
The 'pink slime' meat would otherwise be graded for dog food if it was not chemically treated to kill bacteria.
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