The Fast Food Hamburger - Scary Stuff!

[Julie Marie]

The great American staple. Don't worry, burgers really do come from cows—but have you ever wondered how those giant chains process and distribute so much meat so cheaply? And . . . are you sure you want to know?

The Truth: Most fast-food hamburger patties begin their voyage to your buns in the hands of a company called Beef Products. The company specializes in taking slaughterhouse trimmings—heads and hooves and the like—that are traditionally used only in pet food and cooking oil, and turning them into patties. The challenge is getting this byproduct meat clean enough for human consumption, as both E. coli and salmonella like to concentrate themselves in the fatty deposits.

If you eat fast food hamburgers you may not want to read the rest of the story.  Then again, maybe you should.

From Beef Products, Inc. website

BPI's process begins with fresh USDA inspected beef trimmings from the fabrication lines of approved establishments that meet BPI's raw material specifications. Raw materials are further inspected by trained BPI employees to ensure their consistency and quality prior to introduction into our production process. These raw material specifications and inspection processes are fundamental elements of BPI's Quality Assurance Program.

The selected trimmings are transported by conveyor to a material accumulator, which feeds into a de-sinewing device. Here, virtually all non-functional protein is removed, including cartilage, sinew and connective tissue that could not be removed in the hand trimming process.

The trim is then tempered to near post-mortem temperature to facilitate the separation of lean from fat by centrifugal force

[lilacwoman]

burgers at least look like meat while the jelly stuff in hot dog sausage really does conceal the nasty bits such as eyes and brains.
choosing chicken fast food at least seems to result in actual meat and not crap.

[Shadowlyc]

This is exactly why unless I am extremely desperate to eat something, I'll stay far from fast food hamburgers. I prefer home cooked anyway.

[lisagurl]

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan

[V M]

I prefer my own cookin' and have so for a long time... Sometimes I am tempted by fast food and quickly remember why I don't go there

Nearly everything tends to taste like a salt mine 

[tekla]

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (2001), Eric Schlosser

And its not just that, the Coke water product, Dasani has salt added to it.l