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Misleading title. The pre-treatment meat was unfit for human consumption.

And washing it with dangerous chemicals make it "fit"?

Ammonium hydroxide is not a dangerous chemical. It is generally regarded as safe by the FDA (that's the FDA's lowest level of regulation, along with chemicals like sodium chloride and dihydrogen oxide).

Thousands die each year due to dihydrogen oxide. It may be safe to ingest, yet if you inhale it there's little hope...

How much of what FDA approves is due to lobbying and lowering of standards?

Of the kind that no FDA guy would like to feed his children with those if he had an alternative?

Don't know. You could ask this question about any chemical. That doesn't make it actually dangerous.

To support what other people are saying about this chemical: (http://www.foodinsight.org/Resources/Detail.aspx?topic=Quest...)

Avoiding this chemical may be trickier than avoiding McD's burgers: (http://www.beefproducts.com/ammonium_hydroxide.php)

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