Poultry Industry VS…..The Tellytubbies?

 

To research for this post, I had to do something I thought would never happen.  Google search the word “Tellytubbies”.  You remember Tellytubbies, right?  Those creepy looking and rather round characters that never stopped smiling?  Well believe it or not, but the Tellytubby gang is a part of the story for this week.  And yes, it does still relate to agriculture.

A few years ago, an image started circulating around the internet that claimed to show you what processed poultry looked like.  At first glance, it looked rather nasty.

Yeah that does look nasty, doesn’t it?  Who in their right mind would want to eat this “Pink Slime” after seeing this image?

This post spread like wildfire and heaven knows just how many people actually believed it.  This was one of the first times the term “Pink Slime” was shared across social media and other parts of the internet.

People who only saw the first bit of that post were extremely misinformed.  Keep reading the post just a little and you see what this “Pink Slime” is actually from.

Done laughing?  Me neither.  That machine is actually the Tubby Custard machine from “Tellytubbies!”

What is not a laughing matter is the negative image this post put on the agriculture industry, specifically poultry production.  Consumers started worrying about how their poultry produce was made and many assumed the worst just by looking at the image.

Poultry production is a topic we hope to cover in-depth one day.  Until then let’s learn the difference between “Pink Slime” and “Mechanically Separated Chicken”, which is another word people associate with “Pink Slime.” These two definitions couldn’t be any more different.  Mechanically Separated Chicken is the extra bit after the more popular cuts (breasts, legs, wings, thighs) have been removed.  Poultry breasts, wings, and the like are very popular items and easy to sell to consumers.  However, there is a good amount of poultry muscle fibers left once those cuts have been removed.  That extra bit is collected and then made into popular items such as nuggets or patties,  It’s totally safe to eat and isn’t packed with any harmful chemicals like the original image claimed.  Your poultry is safely handled and processed, just do a little research from some reliable sources and you will see for yourself.

Moral of the story: never believe anything you see on the internet and be sure to do your research before you share something.  What you think is a joke could actually have a huge negative impact on an industry.

Thanks so much for stopping by Farm Traveler this week.  Hope to see you next week, stay tuned for more.