KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Lean, finely textured beef or “pink slime” as it’s been recently dubbed is causing quite the controversy for consumers and the meat industry. While the product is deemed safe by the USDA, many supermarkets and fast food restaurants are saying they are no longer buying or selling beef containing the filler ingredient.
Lean, finely textured beef is a low-cost ingredient made from fatty bits of meat left over from other cuts. Federal regulators say the Amonia-treated filler meets food safety standards but critics say it could be unsafe and is unappetizing. Now, that stores are removing it from shelves, it could mean more cash out of your pocket.
Consumers across the country are demanding the filler stop being used in ground beef products. Local meet seller McGonigle’s Market say they have never and will never sell the filler meet in their store.
“People are concerned with the fact that were putting meat products into our ground beef that in the past have been used for pet food, that’s the first alarm,” said Mike McGonigle, owner of McGonigle’s Market. ”The second alarm is that in order to make this safe for human consumption, its being treated with ammonia. It’s safe for human consumption but it essentially has no nutritive value. Its just simply an additive that adds bulk to the ground beef product.”
Wal-Mart, Price Chopper, Hy-Vee and McDonald’s are among the many that say they are no longer buying ground beef containing the filler.
“The bottom line is people want to eat good quality product, they want economy, but they also want good quality product,” says McGonigle.
According to the National Meat Association, Lean Finely Textured Beef is used in a significant percentage of all ground beef sold in the U.S and cutting it out completely could make the cost of beef rise.
“The reason the meat companies were using this product was to create a value to make the price of this ground beef product less because it’s basically a by-product that they can add back to the ground beef to add bulk and decrease their costs,” McGonigle said.
McGonigle says consumers could see an increase of five to ten percent, but still considers it a win for consumers.
“You get what you pay for and when producers cut corners to try to make a product less expensive and try to use up their by-products in a more efficient manner, sometimes that’s not, they don’t always have the consumer in mind,” he said.
The National Meat Association disagrees, saying depleting the supply of Lean Ground Beef will have to be filled somehow. They predict it will require the slaughtering of thousands of additional cattle or importing beef from outside the U.S.
The “Pink Slime controversy is also forcing a Kansas company to hand out pink slips. Beef Products, Incorporated is shutting down its plant in Holcomb, Kansas, near Garden City. That will put more than 200 workers out of a job.
