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Virginia school district replaces all-beef burger after student complaints

The kids at Fairfax County public schools weren’t fans of the cafeteria’s all-beef patties, so the district has brought back ones with more than two dozen additives. ‘Students are our customers and we listen to them and implement their requests if possible,” the food services director said.



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Students in the Fairfax County School District reportedly complained about the taste and appearance of all-beef burgers, prefering patties with more than 26 ingredients.


It appears the additive-filled burger is back at Fairfax County Public Schools after its replacement drew complaints.

During the 2011-2012 school year, Real Food for Kids, a Fairfax-based advocacy group, pushed for the district to ditch its 27-ingredient burger patties. The organization thought it had succeeded when the schools announced in the spring of 2012 that they would start serving an all-beef burger instead.

However, when the current school year started, the cafeterias quietly went back to serving additive-filled patties, the Washington Post reported.

RELATED: PINK SLIME RETURNS TO SCHOOL LUNCHES

This time around, the burgers contain 26 ingredients, according to RFFK.

"To me, it was surprising because it seems a bit like a step backwards," school board member Ryan McElveen told the Washington Post.

So what prompted the switch? Some students reportedly complained about the look and taste of the all-beef burgers.

RELATED: PINK SLIME SLANDERED, SAYS BEEF COMPANY

"Students are our customers and we listen to them and implement their requests if possible," Penny McConnell, the district's food and nutritional service director, wrote in a note to RFFK.

Fairfax schools spokesperson John Torre told the Daily News that hamburgers and cheeseburgers are offered every other week, and the district was surprised by the negative feedback the all-beef burgers received.

"This change was made based on the poor acceptance of the 100% beef precooked patties,” he said. “We went through a student ‘taste testing’ and they selected (the new) burger over three others before the change was made. In the meantime, FCPS will continue to search the market working with manufacturers and students to find another acceptable 100% percent precooked beef hamburger.”

RELATED: PUBLIC SCHOOLS CAN OPT OUT OF ‘PINK SLIME’: USDA

The school district admitted back in March 2012 that the burgers they were serving contained lean finely textured beef, the ammonium-treated beef trim commonly referred to as pink slime. Like these 27-ingredient patties, the new burgers are sold by Don Lee Farms.

Torre told the Washington Post that the current patties do not contain pink slime.

RFFK said it does not endorse the new burgers.

"We hope that this return to a highly processed hamburger is not representative of a reversal in strategy," the group's president, JoAnne Hammermaster, said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-sty...nt-complaints-article-1.1479694#ixzz2hEeIDlsT
 
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