AMI Newsroom Advisory: Lean Finely Textured Beef is NOT Pink Slime!

WASHINGTON, March 29, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Meat Institute is urging media to stop using the term pink slime to describe lean finely textured beef (LFTB). The Institute issued the following statement today to news outlets across the country:

When lean finely textured beef (LFTB) is processed, a machine much like a salad spinner or centrifuge is used to liquefy and spin fat away from wholesome, inspected beef trimmings that results when a carcass is cut into smaller cuts of meat.  The process starts with beef and ends with 95 percent lean beef.  Calling it "pink slime" is inaccurate, alarmist and disparaging.

LFTB is not consumed by itself, but rather is a component of some ground beef at levels of approximately 10 to 15 percent.  LFTB also is nutritionally equivalent to ground beef and regulated and inspected by USDA.  USDA buys ground beef with LFTB for the school lunch program and limits it to 15 percent of ground beef products.  Food safety experts, consumer representatives and government officials including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack all affirm its safety and nutrition.

In addition, a photo distributed widely by media that is NOT LFTB.  To view the accurate photo and access more resources, including a video that explains the process and shows actual beef trimmings, visit AMI's Lean Finely Textured Beef Resource Page on www.MeatSafety.org.

SOURCE American Meat Institute

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