Metro Detroit grocers cast off 'pink slime'
Grocery stores throughout Michigan and across the country are no longer stocking meat containing the ammonia-treated beef byproduct referred to in the media as "pink slime." Both Kroger Co. and Meijer Inc. said Thursday they will stop purchasing beef with any of the filler, while Hiller's Market said it had never touched the stuff. "Pink slime" is the unappetizing nickname for a product more formally called "lean finely textured beef" in the meat industry. Though it's been used for years as a filler that lowers the fat content and price of ground beef, an ABC News report several weeks ago featuring video of the extruded, paste-like beef mixture sparked an outcry among consumers. But while it may be safe, "lean finely textured beef" is not what Cathy Jen, chair of Wayne State University's Department of Nutrition and Food Science, considers the real thing. "They take all the steps to kill bacteria, but it's filler," Jen said. "It's OK to put in your food, but you don't get pure beef. If you think you're buying half a pound of ground beef, it's actually not because they're adding this filler."