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“The more people are disconnected with their food supply and the sources of their food, the more questions they will have, and we understand that,” said Craig Letch, director of food safety and quality assurance for South Dakota-based Beef Products Inc. But, “We don’t produce ‘pink slime.’ We produce 100 percent quality lean beef. That’s it. That whole thing is a farce. There’s no substance to it.”

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We are not alone in this belief.  Government leaders, academics, food safety experts and consumer groups agree…

“It’s safe, it’s leaner than other beef sources on the market, and it’s less costly.” - Kevin Concannon, USDA undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer sciences

“Ammonium hydroxide itself is used in a multitude of different food products. It’s not a safety concern.” – Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, USDA undersecretary for food safety

“There has been a lot of misinformation swirling around the Internet and on TV about lean beef trim produced by Beef Products, Inc…I have personally visited their plant and the categorization of calling their product “pink slime” is completely false and incendiary.  Consumers need to understand that this product is meat, period, and that the use of ammonia hydroxide in minute amounts during processing improves the safety of the product and is routinely used throughout the food industry.” – Nancy Donley, founder STOP Foodborne Illness

“I think the criticism of BPI’s products are based on quality perceptions, not food safety…it should, however, be recognized that BPI made great strides in improving the safety of ground beef through their unique food safety processes.” - Dr. James Marsden, Regent’s Distinguished Professor of Food Safety and Security at Kansas State University

“Lean Finely Textured Beef is not unsafe, deceptive or pet food.  I approved the use of this product in food when I was Administrator of FSIS [USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service] because it is safe and an excellent source of nutrients.  In this age of sustainability, it would be insane to waste millions of pounds of excellent protein.” – Dr. Russell Cross, Professor and Head, Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University

“The fact is, BLBT [boneless lean beef trimmings] is beef.  The beef trimmings that are used to make BLBT are absolutely edible.  In fact, no process can somehow make inedible meat edible; it’s impossible. In reality, the BLBT production process simply removes fat and makes the remaining beef more lean and suited to a variety of beef products that satisfy consumers’ desire for leaner foods.” – American Meat Institute

“Lean Finely Textured Beef is a good description of exactly what it is. It’s beef. When people come up with these other terms, like ‘pink slime,’ it is not accurate.  Some stories have said this meat is unfit for human consumption, but that is not accurate, either. It is meat that has come from USDA-inspected operations.” – Dr. James Dickson, Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, Iowa State University, in an interview with The Center for Food Integrity

“Ammonium hydroxide is also recognized as safe by other countries’ and international food safety agencies.  The Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) of the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) also recognizes ammonium hydroxide as safe for use in a wide variety of foods.” – International Food Information Council Foundation, Questions and Answers about Ammonium Hydroxide Use in Food Production

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Click here to read her conclusions on the controversy currently swirling around what some have mistakenly dubbed “pink slime.”

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Watch this video to learn more.

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A diverse group of experts who follow food quality and safety, including:

• John Block, former United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1981-1986 and currently Senior Policy Advisor at Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Matz PC;
• Chuck Jolley, journalist and president of the Meat Industry Hall of Fame;
• Keith Nunes, executive editor of Food Business News;
• Gary Acuff, Ph.D., Professor & AgriLife Research Faculty Fellow, Director, Center for Food Safety, Texas A&M University
• Nancy Donley, founder of STOP Foodborne Illness and member of the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection;
• Linda Golodner, former president, National Consumer League
• Carol Tucker-Foreman, Distinguished Fellow, the Food Policy Institute, Consumer Federation of America and former Assistant Secretary of Agriculture;
• James Marsden, Ph.D., Regent’s Distinguished Professor of Food Safety and Security at Kansas State University;
• Dave Theno, Ph.D., respected food safety consultant;
• and Bill Marler, the nation’s leading foodborne illness attorney,

say these things about BPI and its Lean Finely Textured Beef:

“The boneless lean beef is made from the same high quality USDA-inspected trimmings as other ground beef.” John Block

“BPI produces a boneless lean beef product from trim that is usually lost. Its primary uses are for hamburger patties, taco meat, chili and sausages. It has two primary benefits: It’s a very low-cost [ingredient] and it is as close to an absolutely safe product as humanly possible to produce.” Chuck Jolley

“Negative publicity about the company’s process and the use of the compound ammonium hydroxide, a critical component of the process, is at the heart of Beef Products’ recent challenges. This is distressing, because ammonium hydroxide was designated as “generally recognized as safe” for use in food by the Food and Drug Administration in 1974 and it has been used as a leavening agent in baked foods as well as a way to manage the pH in many types of food products since then. In 2001, the Food Safety and Inspection Service, the regulatory arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that regulates the U.S. meat and poultry industry, approved the use of ammonium hydroxide as a food safety tool.” Keith Nunes

[The video depicting use of household ammonia with ground beef] “is a terrible misrepresentation” . . . “I’m glad they use it [ammonia] because anything that can help improve the safety of the product is certainly a product that will be on my table.” Gary Acuff

“We are encouraged to see a company like BPI taking the bull by the horns and independently test for these killer pathogens before being required by government, but we need the entire industry involved and that will only happen when government mandates it.” Nancy Donley

“I have been to many factories many plant in my career at the National Consumers League. BPI is an outstanding plant when you go in you go through a room where the air is actually cleaned, it’s an amazing plant.” Linda Golodner

“Eldon Roth of Beef Products, Inc., who just won the Beef Industry Vision Award, has been extraordinarily creative in developing ways to protect consumers from pathogens in meat.” Carole Tucker-Foreman

“[A]ll kinds of ingredients in food products that can be falsely characterized as unappetizing when viewed out of context. . . . BPI made great strides in improving the safety of ground beef through their unique food safety processes.” James Marsden

[Criticism of BPI] “is so far off base, it’s just incredible.” Dave Theno

BPI has demonstrated a commitment to food safety. I see it as a big step in the right direction.” Bill Marler

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Beef Products, Inc. is the world’s leading producer of Lean Finely Textured Beef processed from fresh beef trimmings. BPI® Lean Finely Textured Beef, is approximately 94% lean beef, and made with great attention to food safety and quality.

For additional information, please contact Rich Jochum, Corporate Administrator, at rjochum@beefproducts.com.

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