USDA: 'Pink Slime' May Be Gross, But It's Safe

For two weeks, ABC News has been running with its scoop about “pink slime,” or what the meat industry prefers to call “lean finely textured beef.” The stuff is an unappetizing but apparently safe filler that meat packers add to the ground beef sold in the nation’s grocery stores without a mention on the label.

“Critics,” ABC reported, “including former USDA scientists, contend the ammonia-treated `pink slime’ -- made from low quality scraps once used for dog food and cooking oil — is less nutritious than pure ground beef.” Since the story broke, major grocery chains such as Safeway, Publix and Whole Foods, have discontinued using the filler, and the Agriculture Department agreed to disclose to school districts which suppliers deliver beef containing “pink slime.”

On Thursday, Agriculture’s relevant official weighed in via a blog post. Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, undersecretary for food safety, wrote that she approaches her role in the dispute “not only as a food safety expert and a physician, but also as a mother.” She said 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.”