(Intro Jingle)

[Narrator] Ah, the Slim Jim.

Four inches of spicy, salty, processed meat-like goodness.

So what goes into this stuff?

The packaging calls it a meat stick,

and meat there is, depending on your definition.

Most processed meats use the bottom three categories

of meat: utility, cutter, and canner.

They come from all the cows with less marbling.

Conagra wouldn't tell us which type they used,

but go ahead and use your imagination.

The beef base is filled up

with mechanically separated chicken,

the pink, extruded paste used in some chicken nuggets,

but it's not just animal in there.

There's a dose of corn and wheat proteins too,

along with hydrolyzed salt.

Those soy proteins get broken down into amino acids

including gluttamic acid.

That's the one behind savory umami tastes.

Everything else helps the steak stay preserved

inside it's plastic, just like a real sausage.

Lactobacteria feed on the sugar dextrose

to produce lactic acid, which keeps the pH low

and the bacteria out.

There's also salt, lots of salt.

One-sixth of your daily dose, in fact.

It also suppresses microbes.

Finally, There's sodium nitrate.

It helps prevent botulism and also combines

with the myoglobin in animal muscle

to keep your snack reddish instead of an unappetizing grey.

Bon appetit.

(Swoosh)

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