Commentary: Dispelling the “pink slime” myth

“Slime” has negative connotations. We don’t like to eat slimy food or touch slimy things. Now another type of slime has made its way into our consciousness – “pink slime.” Pink slime has caused concern among consumers. It has stirred up our “food fears.”

Pink slime is a misnomer for “lean finely textured beef.” USDA recognizes LFTB as a safe and wholesome beef product and many meat processors use it. According to one estimate, 70 percent of the ground beef in the U.S. contains LFTB.  

“Paste” more accurately describes LFTB than does “slime.” Slime tends to contain more liquid than does paste. Slime contains 96-98 percent moisture, while the moisture content of LFTB is 55-65 percent. Processors use tomato paste, fruit paste, and fish paste in many food products. A paste is a semi-solid mixture of liquids and solids.

LFTB is a product of normal beef processing. After a beef animal has been slaughtered and skinned, processors remove large pieces of fat from the carcass. A typical 700-pound carcass yields approximately 140 pounds of trimmed fat. This amount of fat contains 15-20 pounds of lean beef.

Less Waste

The lean beef in the fat is valuable because the beef contains a large amount of protein. However, processors cannot cost-effectively remove the lean beef from the trimmed fat with a knife, Dr. Edward Mills, a meat scientist at Pennsylvania State University, explains. Instead, to separate the lean beef from the trimmed fat, processors first heat the fat until it melts and then they centrifuge (high-speed spinning) it to recover the lean beef from the fat.

Processors have several options for the lean beef that they extract from the beef carcass fat. They can simply throw it away – an economically unacceptable option. Or they can sell the recovered lean beef to pet food manufacturers. However, the market for this lean beef in the pet food industry is limited. A third option is to texture – finely ground – the lean beef, forming LFTB, and incorporate it into fresh ground beef. Texturing greatly reduces the size of the meat particles, greatly improving its palatability and nutrient digestibility. Mills describes the consistency of LFTB as similar to baby food. USDA puts LFTB in the same category as boneless lean beef.

Beef processors add LFTB to fresh ground beef at an inclusion rate of 10-15 percent, Mills says. If it is added at higher concentrations than this, the final ground beef product will have a “pasty” consistency. Mills adds: “High amounts of LFTB in ground beef will negatively affect the consistency of the final product.”

Mills points out that dull grinding equipment can also produce “beef paste.” So, a ground beef that looks like it may contain LFTB may actually contain no LFTB.

There are few reports of LFTB adversely affecting the quality of ground beef when it is added at less than 20 percent. In fact, University of Arkansas researchers recently found that LFTB enhances the color and increases the tenderness of ground beef.

Nutrient Source

LFTB is rich in nutrients. According to Ann Wells of the North American Meat Processors Association, Reston, Va., it contains approximately 20 percent protein and 8 percent fat. None of the fat is trans-fat. A 4-ounce portion contains 45 mg of cholesterol and 140 mg of sodium. LFTB also contains 2 percent calcium and 15 percent iron.   

The pink color of LFTB comes from the myoglobin and hemoglobin – the natural red, oxygen-binding pigments in muscle and blood cells – not an undeclared additive. These pigments are present in substantial quantities in lean beef. These pigments also contribute to the high iron content of LFTB. 

There is nothing sinister or illegal about adding LFTB to ground beef. No health risks have been associated with LFTB. As with all beef products, USDA inspectors must certify LFTB and products containing LFTB as “safe and wholesome.” Also, USDA inspectors routinely obtain samples of LFTG and products containing LFTG for further testing for bacteria pathogens, such as E. coli and salmonella, and harmful contaminants. In addition, LFTB and LFTB-containing products are made in USDA-inspected facilities. There is no reason for processors to special label ground beef containing LFTB because LFTB is pure lean beef. It is not an “inexpensive filler.”

LFTB isn’t a new product either. According to Janet Riley, senior vice president of the American Meat Institute in Washington, DC, processors have been adding LFTB to ground beef for at least 20 years.

Some consumers worry because processors treat LFTB with ammonium hydroxide. One media report incorrectly claimed processors poured house-hold ammonia on the product. Actually, processors use ammonium hydroxide gas. This is done to kill bacteria pathogens that may be in the beef. Food processors use ammonium hydroxide gas on many products. In 1974, the Food and Drug Administration declared ammonium hydroxide as a “Generally Recognized as Safe” – GRAS -- food additive. FDA did not place any restrictions on its use giving further evidence to its safety. Meat scientists at the University of Arkansas found less spoilage in LFTB than in ground beef.     

Consumers ask: Why do ground beef processors use LFTB?

The answer is simple economics. U.S. beef ranchers are raising fewer cattle. Several factors are causing the U.S. beef cattle herd to become smaller. This means that processors must obtain as much beef from each carcass to remain in business. LFTB enables them to do this. 

“There was a significant amount of lean beef going to waste that now is recovered,” Penn State’s Mills points out. “Lean finely textured beef just doesn't roll off the tongue the way pink slime does,” Mills says. “Folks can make up their own minds about this, but there is so much misinformation out there now that it makes it difficult for most people to know what to believe.”

The thought of how LFTB is made or its appearance may be hypothetically unappealing and theoretically, it could become contaminated – as could any food. But, the reality is that the unfounded bias against LFTB has caused three LFTB plants to shutdown. This means that 650 people – real people, not theories or hypotheses – are out of work. Another reality is that because of unfounded fears over LFTB from parents, some cash-strapped school districts will be forced to buy expensive beef products for their lunch programs instead of more economical but highly nutritious LFTB.

Dr. Castaldo is a former editor of a national meat-processing magazine.He currently is a biology instructor at Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon, Ill. He can be contacted via e-mail at critterdoctor@hotmail.com.   

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