Definitely a good point. I think the thing I'm trying to get at is that those concerns apply to processed foods in general, as you point out; you take the same risk every time you eat a hot dog, or frankly any commercial meat which comes off an assembly line.
I'm not saying that's not worthy of concern-- of course, it is. It's just the hysteria surrounding this processed food in particular, especially the "ammonia bath" meme which even made its way to HN, that really irritated me (as has probably been obvious :)
Ah sure - I see your point. Yes on the whole it was a bit of emotional hysteria driving reaction to this particular product when the same point could be made regarding all commercial meat production.
I suppose it became the perfect poster child to represent the general issue some groups have with modern food production in general (which I'm partly sympathetic to) but I'd agree that making false claims about food safety helps nobody.
I'm not saying that's not worthy of concern-- of course, it is. It's just the hysteria surrounding this processed food in particular, especially the "ammonia bath" meme which even made its way to HN, that really irritated me (as has probably been obvious :)