'Pink slime' uproar causes beef plants to close

Three governors from beef-producing states toured a Nebraska plant that makes finely textured beef, which has become known as "pink slime," last week to show their support for the company and the jobs supported by the product. (Associated Press photo by Nati Harnik: Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad tours processing plant)

Hundreds of jobs have been lost as several plants that make the product closed in the wake of media attention about the process, which includes compressing left over meat from other cuts and treatment with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria, Martha White of MSNBC reports.

U.S. Department of Agriculture microbiologist Gerald Zirnstein first used the term "pink slime" in what he thought was a private email, and the public became aware of it after celebrity chef Jamie Oliver drew attention to it. The following outcry caused several retailers and fast food chains to refuse future purchase of the product. AFA Foods, one of the largest ground beef processors in America, said the backlash led it to file for bankruptcy, reports CNBC. The company is based in King of Prussia, Pa., and has about 850 full-time employees. Beef Products, Inc., whose South Sioux City, Neb., plant the governors toured, has halted production at some of its plants. Hy-Vee, a grocery chain based in Iowa, has since reversed its decision to stop using lean finely textured beef in ground beef products.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, and two lieutenant governors "blasted the media" for calling the product pink slime, The Associated Press reports. They said the beef industry has been "unfairly maligned and mislabeled." Crisis management experts, though, say "it will take more than a tour and a few burgers to rehabilitate the product's image," White reports. Vice President of Rubenstein & Associates Marcia Horowitz told White: "It's the perception problem. They have this moniker now and they can't seem to get the slime off of them."

Ken Anderson of Brownfield Ag News reports that many beef industry supporters are upset that the USDA hasn't championed a stronger defense of finely textured beef. Nebraska Farm Bureau President Steve Nelson told Anderson the USDA "really ignored the science," which states "there's absolutely nothing wrong with finely textured lean beef." He said he's disappointed the USDA "caved to the 'pink slime' hysteria." The USDA announced it would tell school districts which suppliers use lean finely textured beef so administrators can decide whether or not to use it. Secretary Tom Vilsack, who defended the product generally, said schools should have the option to reject it.