Do you know what's in your ground beef?

Truth in labeling?

On December 30th, 2009, an article written by New York Times reporter brought to light some information about ground beef that caught most of American consumers by surprise.  It seems that a process developed by Beef Products, Inc. converts beef scrap and waste into a filler that is added back into ground beef. Since the scrap typically contains higher level of bacteria than the higher quality cuts of meat, the process uses ammonia gas to kill organisms such as e-Coli and salmonella. The process was approved by the FDA in 2001.

Eldon Roth, founder and owner of Beef Products, Inc. (BPI), not only stated that 70% of the ground beef sold in the United States contained this filler but that his company had hopes to grow that number to 100%. Major customers of this filler product at that time included Burger King, McDonalds, major grocery chains, and the federal school lunch program. If you saw the movie "Food, Inc." you saw a clip of Beef Products operations and Mr. Roth's comments.

Interestingly enough, public controversy over this ammonia-laced ground beef didn't come to the forefront of mainstream media until March, 2012, when Bettina Swigel initiated a Change.org petition asking the USDA to stop using this beef in school lunches. Within 9 days over 200,000 signatures had been obtained and the USDA announced that it would offer school districts a choice on whether or not they would use these products. Only three states—Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota—have decided to use the beef in school lunches. It should be noted that BPI headquarters are tucked into the southeastern tip of South Dakota, within a mile of Iowa and Nebraska borders. BPI sued ABC News the matter was settled in 2017.

Identifying Ground Beef with Ammonia-Processed Filled Added

That's the problem.  There are no requirements for the labeling of this filler product so you have no way of knowing if the ground beef you are buying at your local supermarket is pure beef or if it is a combination of ground beef and filler product. That is, unless you purchase 100% grassfed and/or organic beef or bison.

You Can Rest Assured that You Won't Find Ammonia-Processed Meat in Buffaloberries™ Recipes or Menu Items

Buffaloberries™ uses only locally grown, 100% grassfed ground beef and bison in our menu items and our deli sausages, deli meat and pork products are free of added nitrates..

We also use certified sustainably caught, low-mercury albacore tuna; vegetarian-fed, certified humanely-rasied, free-range chicken breasts; and organic, all-vegetarian-fed, cage-free eggs. All of our meat and dairy products are antibiotic and hormone free.

Although Buffaloberries™ high quality ingredients do cost more we beloieve in high quality food. That's the Buffaloberries™ difference.