This picture of mechanically separated chicken has been floating around the internet for over a year. I think it originated here. According to Fooducate:

Someone figured out in the 1960’s that meat processors can eek eke out a few more percent of profit from chickens, turkeys, pigs, and cows by scraping the bones 100% clean of meat. This is done by machines, not humans, by passing bones leftover after the initial cutting through a high pressure sieve. The paste you see in the picture above is the result.

This paste goes on to become the main ingredient in many a hot dog, bologna, chicken nuggets, pepperoni, salami, jerky etc…

The industry calls this method AMR – Advanced Meat Recovery.

I noticed this weekend as I was eating a seafood version of Thai soup that I didn't mind so much eating the processed rolls of imitation crab made from fish paste. Maybe it's the blood or the bones but the picture above makes me glad I don't regularly eat industrial meat products anymore.

---

---