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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by MelanieN (talk | contribs) at 00:18, 25 July 2012 (Revert good faith edit. There is no suchsubstance as ammonia hydroxide. There is ammonia gas; when dissolved in water it becomes ammonium hydroxide.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Pink slime
InventorEldon Roth[1]
Inception2001 (for human consumption), earlier for pet food
ManufacturerBeef Products Inc. (BPI), AFA Foods, Cargill, Tyson Foods
AvailableAvailable
Current supplierBeef Products Inc., Cargill Meat Solutions, Tyson Foods
Look up pink slime, lean finely textured beef, LFTB, soylent pink, or beef in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Pink slime refers to mechanically processed beef products known in the meat processing industry as lean finely textured beef (LFTB)[2] and boneless lean beef trimmings (BLBT).[3] It is a processed beef product used as a food additive to ground beef and beef-based processed meats as a filler or to reduce the overall fat content of beef products. The production process uses heat in centrifuges to separate the fat from the meat in beef trimmings.[4] The resulting product is exposed to ammonia gas or citric acid to kill bacteria.[4][5] The product is sold in the U.S. to food companies which use it as a filler product in ground beef production. It was reported in March 2012 that approximately 70 percent of ground beef sold in U.S. supermarkets contained the additive at that time. In March 2012, ABC News ran a series of news reports about the product, which generated significant controversy and led to increased consumer concerns. Following the controversy, some companies and organizations discontinued the provision of ground beef with the additive, while others continued to provide beef with the filler. Some state officials have objected to the term "pink slime," saying that it is misrepresentative of the additive and that "lean, finely textured beef" is the proper name for the product.[6]

Product overview

Above: ground beef, from a USDA image of a beef-grinding operation. Lean finely textured beef, also known as pink slime, is a beef-based product that is added to ground beef as a filler. It was reported in March 2012 that 70 percent of ground beef sold in U.S. supermarkets contained pink slime.[7]

LFTB is used as a filler or to reduce the overall fat content of ground beef.[8][9] It is produced by processing low-grade beef trimmings and other meat by-products such as cartilage, connective tissue and sinew,[10][11] which contain fat and small amounts of lean beef, and mechanically separating the lean beef from the fat through the use of a centrifuge heated to approximately at 100°F (38°C).[12] The heating process liquifies the fat and facilitates the separation of lean beef from the fat[12] and other meat by-products.[13] The recovered beef material is then processed, heated, and treated with gaseous ammonia[1] or citric acid to kill E. coli, salmonella, and other bacteria. When gaseous ammonia is used, after coming in contact with water in the meat it forms into ammonium hydroxide.[1] The product is finely ground, compressed into pellets[14] or blocks, flash frozen and then shipped for use as an additive.[15][16]

Rick Jochum, a company spokesperson for Beef Products Inc. (BPI) has stated that the finished product is 94 to 97 percent lean beef, and has a nutritional value comparative to 90 percent lean ground beef.[14] Furthermore, it was stated that the product's content is very high in protein, low in fat, and contains iron, zinc and B vitamins.[14] Jochum also stated that BPI's product does not contain cow intestines and connective tissue, such as tendons, stating, "Intestines never enter our plant, and never enter the beef processing facility from which we purchase our trim," and "Similarly, tendons are removed at our suppliers' facilities."[14]

Most of the filler is produced and sold by BPI, Cargill Meat Solutions, and Tyson Foods.[17][18] The product sold by BPI introduces the trimmings to ammonium hydroxide (a solution of ammonia in water), while the Cargill product uses citric acid instead of ammonium hydroxide.[19] Part of the manufacturing process at BPI includes extruding the material through long tubes that are thinner than a pencil, during which time the meat is exposed to gaseous ammonia.[1][20]

In April 2012, The USDA received requests from beef processors to allow voluntary labeling of products that contain the additive, and has stated that it plans on approving this practice after checks for the accuracy of the labels are undertaken.[21] Regarding this matter, LFTB producer Beef Products, Inc. spokesman Rich Jochum stated, "We feel this development will allow more customers to provide options to consumers and pave the way for BPI's lean beef to re-establish its place in the market."[22]

By country

In the United States, the additive itself cannot legally be sold directly to consumers. However, it can constitute up to 15 percent of ground beef without additional labeling,[15] and it can also be added to other meat products such as beef-based processed meats.[15] Prior to the invention of the disinfection process, beef scraps could not be processed to reduce or remove the fat, bone fragments or other non-beef components and could only be sold for other uses, such as pet food or as an ingredient for cooking oil.[8] In a statement on March 22, 2012, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety Elisabeth A. Hagen stated on the USDA's blog that "The process used to produce LFTB is safe and has been used for a very long time. And adding LFTB to ground beef does not make that ground beef any less safe to consume."[2]

Due to the use of ammonium hydroxide in its processing, LFTB is not permitted in Canada.[23] In a statement, Health Canada stated that: "Ammonia is not permitted in Canada to be used in ground beef or meats during their production." Such products also may not be imported, as Canadian law requires that imported meat products meet the same standards and requirements as domestic meat.[23][24] Canada does allow Finely Textured Meat (FTM) to be "used in the preparation of ground meat" and "identified as ground meat" under certain conditions.[25] Pink slime does not meet the legal requirements for sale in the United Kingdom,[26] and the European Union has banned it[27][28] and other mechanically-separated meats for human consumption.[29]

Etymology

People in the beef industry have referred to the additive as "pink slime" due to the product's unique appearance.[30] The term pink slime was coined in 2002 by Gerald Zirnstein, who was a microbiologist for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service.[31]

History

In 1994, in the wake of public health concerns over pathogenic E. coli in beef, Eldon Roth, founder of Beef Products Inc., began work on the "pH Enhancement System," which disinfects meat using ammonia.[32][17] The additive was approved for human consumption by the USDA in 2001.[32] USDA scientists Carl Custer and Gerald Zirnstein have stated that they argued against its approval, saying that it was not "meat" and was actually "salvage,"[33] but were overruled.[7][34] The term "pink slime" was coined in 2002 by Dr. Zirnstein in an internal e-mail.[35] Zirnstein stated "I do not consider the stuff to be ground beef, and I consider allowing it in ground beef to be a form of fraudulent labeling."[17] In 2007, the USDA determined the disinfection process was so effective that it would be exempt from "routine testing of meat used in hamburger sold to the general public."[17]

A December 2009 New York Times investigative piece questioned the safety of the meat treated by this process, pointing to occasions in which process adjustments were not effective.[36] This article included the first public use of the term "pink slime" as a pejorative term.[37] In January 2010, The New York Times published an editorial reiterating the concerns posed in the news article while noting that no meat produced by Beef Products Inc. has been linked to any illnesses or outbreaks.[38]

Controversy

A series of reports in March 2012 from ABC News created controversy, brought widespread public attention to and raised consumer concerns about the product,[8][15] in which it was reported at that time that 70 percent of ground beef sold in U.S. supermarkets contained the additive, and that the USDA considered it as meat.[7] A 2008 Washington Post article stated that in ground beef containing the filler, the amount of LFTB can be up to 25 percent, but usually does not exceed than this percentage.[39] The product has been described as "essentially scrap meat pieces compressed together and treated with an antibacterial agent."[40] Although the USDA issued a statement that the LFTB was safe and had been included in consumer products for some time, many grocery stores and supermarkets, including the nation's three largest chains, announced that they would no longer sell products containing the additive.[41] While some grocery companies, restaurants and school districts discontinued the sale and provision of beef containing the additive after the media reports,[42] others continued to provide and use beef with the additive. Among consumers, media reporting significantly reduced its acceptance as an additive to ground beef,[43] and some beef processors have made plans to label products that contain the additive to alleviate these concerns and restore consumer confidence.[22]

In the U.S., beef that contains up to 15 percent of pink slime can be labeled as "100 percent ground beef."[44][45] Currently in the U.S., only if a USDA Organic label is present can consumers know that beef contains no pink slime.[15] The nature of the product and the manner in which it is processed led to concerns that it might be a risk to human health, despite the fact that there have been no reported cases of foodborne illnesses due to consumption of the product.[46][47][48] Source areas from cattle for LFTB production may include, but are not limited to, the most contaminated portions of cattle,[9] such as near the hide which is often exposed to fecal matter.[15][49]

Pink slime has been referred to as "an unappetizing example of industrialized food production."[50] The product has been characterized as "...unappetizing, but perhaps not more so than other things that are routinely part of hamburger" by Sarah Klein, an attorney for the food safety program at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.[51] Nutritionist Andy Bellatti has referred to the product as "...one of many symptoms of a broken food system."[52] Food policy writer Tom Laskawy has noted that the use of ammonium hydroxide is only one of several chemicals routinely added to industrially-produced meat in the United States.[53] The reaction against the product has also been partially credited to Bettina Siegel's Change.org petition that has landed over a quarter million signatures to ban it in school lunches.[15] Consumer advocacy groups have pressed for its elimination or for mandatory disclosure of additives in beef,[54][55][9][15][56] but a spokesperson from Beef Products Inc. at the time said there was no need for any additional labeling, asking "What should we label it? It's 100 percent beef, what do you want us to label it? I'm not prepared to say it's anything other than beef, because it's 100 percent beef."[57]

Consumer concerns

U.S. consumers have expressed concerns that ground beef which contains pink slime is not labeled as such, and that consumers are currently unable to make informed purchasing decisions due to this lack of product labeling.[9] Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey called upon the USDA to institute mandatory labeling guidelines for ground beef sold in supermarkets, so consumers can make informed purchasing decisions.[49] A Harris Interactive survey commissioned by Red Robin[58][59] and released on April 4, 2012 found that 88 percent of U.S. adults were aware of the "pink slime" issue, and that of those who were aware 76 percent indicated that they were "at least somewhat concerned," with 30 percent "extremely concerned." 53 percent of respondents who stated that they were aware of pink slime took some action, such as researching ground beef they purchase or consume or decreasing or eliminating ground beef consumption.[60]

Red Robin study on pink slime: "Concerns about 'Pink Slime' in Beef Impact Americans' Behavior"
Issue Figure
Aware of pink slime issue 88%
Somewhat concerned about PS 76%
Extremely concerned about PS 30%
Took some action due to PS 53%
Researched restaurant or
grocer GB source		 24%
Decreased/stopped consuming
GB at restaurants		 22%
Decreased/stopped buying
GB at grocers		 25%
Notes: PS = pink slime, GB = ground beef

Source: Red Robin/Harris Interactive Survey of 2,222 American adults, March 29 – April 2, 2012[61]

Manufacturer Beef Products Inc. (BPI) and meat industry organizations addressed public concerns by stating that the additive, though processed, is actually "lean beef" that simply was not able to be reclaimed through traditional slaughterhouse practices until newer technologies became available approximately 20 years ago.[9][15][56] With regard to public concerns over the use of ammonium hydroxide, BPI noted that its use as an anti-microbial agent is approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The use of ammonium hydroxide is included on the FDA's list of GRAS (generally regarded as safe) procedures, and is used in similar applications for numerous other food products, including puddings and baked goods.[62]

Effect on the meat industry

On March 25, 2012, BPI announced it would suspend operations at three of its four plants.[16][63] The three plants produced a total of about 900,000 pounds of the product per day.[3] On May 8, 2012, BPI announced that it would be closing three of its four plants, effective May 25.

On April 3, 2012, U.S. cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange were at a 3.5-month low, which was partially attributed to the pink slime controversy. Livestock traders stated that: "It has put a dent in demand. It is bullish for live cattle over the long-term, but short-term it is certainly negative."[64][65]

Pink slime is also manufactured by AFA Foods and Cargill.[66] AFA filed for bankruptcy stating that it was due to the pink slime controversy.[66] Cargill significantly cut production of the product and, "warned [that] the public's resistance to the filler could lead to higher hamburger prices this barbecue season" in April 2012.[66]

Politician and media plant tour

Iowa governor Terry Branstad is a proponent of pink slime's use in beef products.

Following the suspension of operations at three out of four BPI plants, members of the media and leaders were invited by Iowa Governor Terry Branstad to tour the BPI facility that remained open in South Sioux City, Nebraska.[56][67] The founders of BPI gave campaign contributions to Branstad in 2010,[56] and to other candidates' campaigns.[68] Brandstad stated to ABC News that the contributions were not a factor in his decision regarding having the event.[56] Texas Governor Rick Perry, Nebraska Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, and South Dakota Lieutenant Governor Matt Michels,[69] all politicians from meat-producing states, toured the South Sioux City, Nebraska plant in an attempt to allay "inaccurate information" that they stated as having caused "an unnecessary panic among consumers."[70] The publicity tour emerged with the promotional slogan, "Dude, it's beef!"[56] News reporters were not allowed to ask employees at BPI any questions during the tour.[56] BPI assert that social media and ABC News "grossly misrepresented" their product.[56]

On March 28, 2012, Branstad stated, "The problem is, we take this off the market, then we end up with a fatter product that’s going to cost more and it’s going to increase the obesity problem in this country."[70] Safeway and other retailers that have removed pink slime from their shelves or product lines have stated they will not raise the price of their beef.[15] Branstad also stated that he would recommend that Iowa state public schools continue to use ground beef which contains LFTB, and stated plans to "send a letter to the state's public schools, encouraging them to continue to buy LFTB."[71]

Abstention and product divestment

Food manufacturers

Several U.S. food manufacturers have publicly stated that they do not use pink slime in their products, including ConAgra Foods Inc., Sara Lee Corporation and Kraft Foods Inc.[72]

Grocery retailers

Costco Wholesale Corporation has stated that it does not use beef containing the additive, stating, "From a microbial perspective we’re just not on board with using ammonium hydroxide on our ground beef. We just won’t do it."[73] In 2012, Safeway Inc., the second-largest food distributor in the United States, halted the sale of beef containing the additive at its Safeway, Carrs, Dominick's, Genuardi's, Randall's, Tom Thumb, Simon David, Pak'nSave, Vons, and Pavilions stores.[74] Supervalu, the third-largest U.S. food distributor, stopped selling products containing the additive at its SuperValu, Lucky, Acme, Farm Fresh, Cub Foods, Hornbacher's, Save-A-Lot, Shaw's, Jewel-Osco, Shop 'n Save, The Market, Shoppers Food, and Albertsons stores due to "considerable customer concern."[75][15][76] Kroger, America's largest supermarket chain, also stopped selling beef that contained pink slime.[77] The company released a statement that said: "Our customers have expressed their concerns that the use of lean finely textured beef—while fully approved by the USDA for safety and quality—is something they do not want in their ground beef. As a result, Kroger will no longer purchase ground beef containing lean finely textured beef."[78]

In March 2012, Walmart and its subsidiary Sam's Club announced that they would soon offer pink slime-free ground beef as an option, but would continue to also sell meat containing the filler.[79][80] By mid April 2012 it was reported that Wal-Mart would no longer sell meat with the pink slime additive.[66][81]

Publix, Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe's, H-E-B, Fresh & Easy and Mars (supermarket) also have stated they do not sell products containing the additive.[9][82][83][76][84] Fresh and Easy capitalized on the controversy by offering to trade meat from its competitors containing the additive for its own pink slime-free meat free for up to two pounds for several days.[85] Gerrity’s Supermarkets stated that it never knowingly sold the product but that it had amended its policy to demand its suppliers certify their meat as pink slime free.[84] Food Lion and its subsidiaries Harveys Supermarkets, Bloom, and Bottom Dollar Food also banned the product.[15] Meijer,[86] Lowes Foods[20] and Bi-Lo/Winn-Dixie also announced that they would no longer sell products containing pink slime.[87] Ahold's grocery stores in the U.S., Giant-Carlisle and Giant-Landover, stopped selling items containing LFTB on March 22, 2012, based on customer concerns.[79] Giant Eagle also eliminated the product describing "questions, confusion, and a decline in consumer confidence in the product" as its rationale.[88] In April 2012 Shaw's and Star Market, Market Basket, Hannaford Bros. Co., and Target all reported they would stop selling beef with the product.[89] Officials with Market Basket stated that although they consider the product to be "perfectly safe," that pink slime is a "misleading" term, and that the reaction to it is a "panic," since the public "doesn't want it in there... we pulled it out."[89] In March 2012, Wegmans stated that it would continue selling products containing pink slime until it could procure ground beef without the filler, and also stated company plans to phase-out ground beef with the filler.[79]

Iowa's Hy-Vee markets originally announced that they planned to phase out products containing LFTB, but the company reversed its decision after pressure from Iowa state Governor Terry Branstad.[90] This was described by the Omaha World-Herald as BPI's "first victory" in the pink slime controversy, which a Branstad spokesman claimed was a "smear campaign."[90] Nevertheless, it was reported that some people have concerns about paying for "...a lesser product without it being disclosed and find it to be an unappetizing reminder about how meat gets produced."[90]

Additionally, the pink slime press coverage was reported to have led to increased business in some small neighborhood markets, due to consumer concerns about the additive.[89]

Restaurants

McDonald's,[91] Burger King and Taco Bell announced they would discontinue the use of BPI products in their food.[92] Wendy's ran full-page advertisements in eight major newspapers (including The New York Times, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Times), stating that it has never used pink slime. A Wendy's spokesperson told Reuters news agency, "We have never used lean finely textured beef (pink slime) because it doesn't meet our high quality standards."[93][72] Five Guys confirmed that "We do not have pink slime in our ground beef. We use 80/20 ground chuck. Our manufactures [sic] do not use ammoniated procedures."[94] Red Robin stated that it has "never purchased or served beef containing the so-called 'pink slime.'"[60]

Public schools

USDA overview

After some parents and consumer advocates insisted pink slime be removed from public schools, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicated that it would give school districts the option of choosing between ground beef with or without the additive.[16][95][96] The USDA stated in March 2012 that beginning in fall 2012, the U.S. National School Lunch Program will allow school districts to decide whether or not to purchase ground beef containing pink slime.[97] On March 22, 2012, 41 Democrats in Congress, led by Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine, wrote a letter to United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (the head of the USDA), writing that "creating a two-tiered school lunch program where kids in less affluent communities get served this low-grade slurry is wrong" and urging the elimination of pink slime from all public-school lunches.[98][99]

While some school districts have their own suppliers, many school districts purchase beef directly from the USDA and so have no way to know what is in the beef.[98] It was reported that for the year 2012, the USDA has planned on purchasing 7 million pounds of lean beef trimmings for the U.S. national school lunch program.[31] USDA spokesman Mike Jarvis stated that of the 117 million pounds of beef ordered nationally for the school lunch program last year, 6 percent was LFTB.[98] An analysis of California Department of Education data obtained by California Watch indicated that "anywhere from none to nearly 3 million pounds of beef from the USDA that was served in California schools last year could have been lean finely textured beef."[98] According to the USDA, the cost differential between ground beef with and without the additive has been estimated at approximately 3 percent.[98]

Senator Jon Tester of Montana issued a news release in March 2012 urging Agriculture Secretary Vilsack to remove "pink slime" from school lunches and replace it with "high-quality Montana beef."[100] Tester stated that he planned to include provisions in the upcoming farm bill that would allow schools more flexibility in using USDA commodity dollars, to increase options in purchasing locally-grown and produced foods.[100]

School official responses

Following the USDA announcement to allow choices in purchasing decisions for ground beef, many school districts stated that they would opt out of serving ground beef with the filler.[97][101] The Miami-Dade County Public Schools district, one of the nation's largest, stated that it would choose pink-slime-free beef despite some expected increase in cost, as did state officials in South Carolina.[102] The New York City Department of Education announced plans to phase out pink slime (following a letter from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer urging the department to do so[103]), while the Boston Public Schools district "decided to hold and isolate its entire inventory of ground beef" in a warehouse "until the district knows more about what is in it."[102]

In March 2012, in the Washington Metropolitan Area, school officials in the District of Columbia, Arlington County, Alexandria, and Prince George's County stated that none of their beef suppliers used beef with the additive at that time, while the school districts in Montgomery and Fairfax canceled their existing meat orders and stated that they planned to be pink slime-free by the next school year.[104] The Anchorage School District announced plans to opt out of purchasing beef containing the additive.[105]

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture announced in March 2012 that it would only buy beef without the ammonia-treated filler. Additionally, schools were given the option to cancel pink slime-containing beef orders for the remainder of the year, although they would not receive subsides on those orders.[106]

The Los Angeles Unified School District said in a March 2012 statement that "We use 100% all-natural ground beef with no fillers, additives or soy isolates including mechanically separated parts of beef." The San Francisco Unified School District also stated that their beef suppliers do not use pink slime.[98]

By June 2012, forty-seven of fifty states declined to purchase any pink slime for the 2012–2013 school year while North Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa chose to continue buying it.[107]

Effect on production

In March 2012 BPI suspended production at three of its four plants. The company announced that it was in "crisis planning" and production of LFTB was halved.[16] On April 2, 2012, another producer, AFA Foods, a ground-beef processor owned by Yucaipa Companies, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing "ongoing media attention" that has "dramatically reduced the demand for all ground beef products."[108][109]

In mass media

An episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, aired on April 12, 2011, depicted Jamie Oliver decrying the use of pink slime in the food supply and in school lunches.[110][111] In the episode, Oliver douses beef trimmings in liquid ammonia while explaining what the product is and why he is disgusted with it.[111] Oliver has stated, "Everyone who is told about pink slime doesn't like it in their food—school kids, soldiers, senior citizens all hate it."[112] The American Meat Institute and Beef Products Inc. retorted with a YouTube video featuring Dr. Gary Acuff of Texas A&M University questioning some of Oliver's statements and promoting the additive.[5][113]

In an Associated Press review, food editor and cookbook author J.M. Hirsh compared the taste of pink slime-containing hamburgers against traditional, or "real," hamburgers. He described the filler-containing burgers as smelling the same, but being less juicy and highly mealy with bits and studs of cartilage–like matter.[114]

See also

References

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Further reading

Research

Journalism reports

Patents

External images
image icon Pink slime kibble
image icon Giant rolls of pink slime being flash frozen
image icon A frozen brick of pink slime, the finished product
image icon A brick of pink slime being sliced
image icon An image of pink slime used by the meat industry association
External videos
video icon (March 26, 2012). "'Pink Slime' Manufacturer Suspends Operations." ABC News.
video icon (Mar 16, 2012). "The Facts About Lean Finely Textured Beef." American Meat Institute

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