Negative Publicity for Pink Slime Leads to Removal

SHANNON LI
Staff Writer

Recently, there has been uproar over what the meat industry calls “boneless lean beef trimmings” (BLBT) which has been dubbed “pink slime” It consists of remaining beef scraps, connective tissue and fat that are more likely than other cuts of beef to be contaminated with diseases such as salmonella and E. coli, so it is sprayed with ammonium hydroxide to eliminate potential bacteria.

The use of BLBT has been approved by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the last two decades.

This substance can constitute up to 15 percent of ground beef without extra labeling. According to ABC News, 70 percent of ground beef sold in supermarkets within the United States contain “pink slime”.

After ABC News’ series of reports on the substance, public reaction caused many grocery stores and supermarkets to stop carrying products with the additive.

“If it’s unhealthy, […] we shouldn’t be putting this kind of stuff into people’s food,” freshman Rosa Zheng said.

After parents and consumers insisted pink slime be removed from public schools, the USDA indicated that it would give school districts the option of choosing between ground beef with or without the additive. Following that announcement, many school districts stated they would stop using BLBT in their food.

The Alhambra Unified School District (AUSD) is one of those districts; the meat to be used for the 2012-2013 school year is guaranteed to be BLBT-free, according to director of AUSD’s Food and Nutrition Services Vivien Watts.

“Pink slime” was first developed in 1994, when the public was concerned about the presence of E. coli and other diseases in beef. The founder of Beef Products Incorporated (BPI) created a system that disinfects meat using ammonium hydroxide. The production methods have led to concerns that it might be a risk to human health, even though there have been no reported cases of food-borne illnesses due to consumption of the product.

However, due to the public’s health concerns over the product, many restaurants announced they would discontinue using BPI products in their food. BPI also announced that it was suspending operations at three of its four plants as a result of the plummeting demand. Executives of Tyson Foods Inc. says the negative publicity has hurt demand and will reduce the supply of beef by two to three percent, which will likely drive up costs for consumers.

“If pink slime was a serious health problem, the USDA wouldn’t allow it to be used in food,” senior Ted Lin said. “What makes pink slime so unappealing isn’t its actual health content, but the bad publicity it has received.”