Beef Products suspends ‘pink slime’ production in US

Beef Products, a US processor of beef trimmings, has halted production at three of its four plants in the country for 60 days, following concerns over the safety of the ammonia-treated beef product, named ‘pink slime’ by critics.

Production has been halted at the company’s plants in Texas, Kansas and Iowa, which together produce about 900,000lbs of beef products per day. Production will however continue at its Nebraska plant.

Beef Products corporate administrator Rich Jochum said the temporary closure could become a permanent suspension.

The low-cost beef filler is made from leftover cuts of meat that are heated and spun in a centrifuge to separate the meat from the fat, and then treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria.

Following this, the final product is formed into blocks, frozen and shipped and is usually used as an ingredient in food products.

Although federal regulators noted that the ammonia-treated filler meets food safety standards, critics said that the food is unappetising and possibly poses safety risk due to treatment with ammonia.

The ammonia-treated bits of leftover meat have been used for several years, but mass outrage erupted only after a recent social media campaign was initiated against the use of the beef product.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) decided to permit schools to choose alternative beef supplies under the National School Lunch Program.

This year, USDA has contracted to buy 111.5 million lbs of ground beef for the programme, of which 7 million lbs is being supplied by Beef Products.

Some school districts have chosen to stop using the product, while a few retail chains including two of the leading supermarket operators Safeway and Supervalu said that they will withdraw the ammonia-treated beef from their shelves.