Pink slime

Most of us have probably heard about this stuff in the news recently. But, what is it? Is it safe?

Pink slime is an unappetizing name for lean finely textured beef or LFTB. It's been in our hamburgers since the 1990's, but why the concern now?

Pink slime (or LFTB) is not unsafe. It starts out as meat trimmings, then is heated and spun (to separate meat and fat particles) and finally treated with ammonium hydroxide gas to kill bacteria. It is then added as a filler to ground beef.

If you think that sounds yucky, pink slime is probably safer than a lot of other raw meat.

One issue is with the labeling. Most consumers didn't know what pink slime was or that it was even in their hamburgers. LFTB didn't have to be on the label, nor did the ammonium hydroxide. Pink slime cannot be sold directly to consumers in the U.S. and can constitute up to 15% of the ground beef without being labeled.

LFTB has been around since the 1990's, but with the overwhelming amount of recent press and social media attention, the topic has been in our news since 2011. This year saw the most media attention around pink slime.

LFTB is inexpensive, so it makes our ground beef cheaper. One of the biggest producers of LFTB was shut down and most of the ground beef in the U.S. will not contain this product anymore, so ground beef prices will most likely increase.

LFTB is a processed food, so the nutrient levels are questionable. Lean meat is a good source of protein and iron, but with LFTB being processed, it's hard to know the exact nutrients.

Another point to make is that there are other products out there that use meat trimmings. For instance, deli ham may use trimmings to help bind the meat so it is smooth. Before you start to join the protestors of pink slime, it's hard to know what else you are eating that may be very similar.

Dr. Elisabeth Hagan, who works under the Secretary for Food Safety, recently wrote a blog about setting the record straight on ground beef. Her comment was, "I believe it is important to distinguish people’s concerns about how their food is made from their concerns about food safety. 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."

The USDA issued a press release to note that while they still proclaim LFTB as being safe, they are giving schools options to purchase ground beef with or without it. Schools have tight budgets, so cheap food (including inexpensive LFTB) helps cut costs. But is that a good idea?

So, the bigger issue may not be related to food safety, but instead food labeling. In a recent article, the USDA said that voluntary labeling in grocery stores could be coming soon.

Purchasing ground beef with or without LFTB is a personal decision, but until they label ground beef, we can never really be sure. Some grocery stores made the public aware that they will not sell ground beef with LFTB in it, but what about restaurant hamburgers?

Ground beef is one of the most recalled foods for food safety issues. Why isn't all of our beef safe to eat (without the ammonium hydroxide treatment)?  

For more information:

• USDA fact sheet on LFTB
• Marion's Nestle's (nutrition professor at NYU) article on pink slime