The Continuing Saga of ‘Pink Slime’: Second Largest Grocery Chain in U.S. Says Goodbye to ‘Finely Textured’ Beef
- Posted on March 21, 2012 at 4:37pm by
Becket Adams
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As a result of the national outcry against “lean finely textured beef,” Safeway, America’s second largest supermarket chain, has announced that it will no longer sell what the public has come to call “pink slime,” ABC News reports.
Although the supermarket chain believes the beef filler is safe (albeit slightly unappetizing), it has decided to pull the product after receiving “considerable consumer concern.”
“Safeway is committed to providing our customers with the highest-quality products,” the company said in a statement. “While the USDA and food industry experts agree that lean finely textured beef is safe and wholesome, recent news stories have caused considerable consumer concern about this product. Safeway will no longer purchase ground beef containing lean finely textured beef.”
Producers of the “pink slime,” as well as the USDA, claim the beef filler is not an additive and is safe for consumption. But that hasn’t stopped critics, including former USDA scientists, from claiming the ammonia treated “slime” is an unacceptable alternative to the more nutritious pure ground beef.
“It’s not fresh ground beef. It’s a cheap substitute being added in,” microbiologist Gerald Zirnstein said, according to ABC.
Watch the ABC News update:
“Seventy percent of all store bought ground beef contained ‘pink slime,’” according to ABC. However, since news of the widespread consumption of “pink slime” broke, many grocery stores have assured their customer their meat counters are 100 percent “slime” free.
“Safeway has 1400 stores coast to coast, second only to Kroger. The chain now joins Publix, HEB, Whole Foods and Costco promising their ground beef is additive free,” ABC reports.
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Comments (112)
Scarybones
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 6:30pmIt’s people. Soylent Green is made out of people.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 7:45pmPink Slime… is the Veal… of SoylentGreen!
Report Post »NeoFan
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 8:19pmSafeway held out as long as they could but was forced to dump pink slime do to the publicity.
Report Post »I stopped shopping at Safeway many years ago due to several instances of meat going rancid after a one day in my fridge. Safeway has some pretty low standards.
HorseCrazy
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 8:31pmI have an idea…how about when they sell us beef its meat not a bunch of connective tissues also known as dog food. I am sick and tired it why do they feel it necessary to pollute perfectly decent food.
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 6:26pmYeah, we put Liberal’s out of business for a change. Take your pink slime and shove it up your ______. This must explain why I rarely bought hamburger from any store. I thought it looked funny.
Report Post »ACACIA
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 6:25pmship the pink slime to new york so mayor bloomberg can feed it salt free to the homeless.
Report Post »DockScience
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 6:22pmThere’s nothing wrong with this product.
You are responding to a yellow journalism hatchet job on a completely legitimate and healthy product and destroying a company and its jobs as well.
Report Post »chips1
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 6:29pmThen you eat it!!!!
Report Post »saranda
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 6:40pmWhy has Canada not approved this? Seems to me they have much higher food standards than us.
Report Post »searching for the Truth
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 7:32pmYou eat it!
Report Post »searching for the Truth
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 7:40pmThey can go back to Mexico!
Report Post »samurai2112
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 8:05pmGive the consumers a choice and do not hide the fact that their hamburger is something it is not. I bet that they will pay the higher price for realy hamburger. If people want the pink slime for a lower price then they can be free to purchase it.
I just purchased beef directly from a local farmer, best I have ever had. I will not buy from the grocery store in the future.
Report Post »Bluebonnet
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 8:32pmGOOD! Any place that would use scrap meat, treat it with ammonia and sell it as good meat, that’s not fit for human consumption, needs to put out of business. How dare them. This is dog food.
No wonder I refused to eat a hamburger away from home or anything with hamburger meat in it. For home, I know what I’m buying and try to buy organic hamburger, or best quality I can get knowing it costs more, because I know anything goes into the cheap stuff.
Report Post »F_This
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 11:06pmNothing wrong with this product? What’s wrong is the government and stores lying to the public by leading them to believe they are buying 100% ground beef and instead, they are paying full price for innards. Just another thing the govt is involved in that is a failure. Pink Slime in my hamburger, I should sue for false advertising and paying for a product I didn’t receive.
Report Post »toddgibbs
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 12:11amI guess some people just don‘t care what’s in their beef…
Report Post »Studebaker
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 9:29pmSeriously, go buy it and feed it to your kids – MAKE SURE YOU EAT IT TOO. Do that once or twice a week, as your budget dictates. Let us know how your family feels in about 2-3 months. Immodium is in the aisle next to Tylenol. If the DEA says the ammonia in Meth is what causes all the addicts to have lesions what is the ammonia in hamburger going to do to your intestines? Why did the FDA approve a non-meat product so suddenly…see Solis’ reference to new rules on Farms…Kids on farms…
Report Post »I won’t feed it to my kids or my dogs – I took it back to Walmart for a full refund – including the Hamburger Helper too.
KathleenElsie
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 10:07pmI have no intention of knowingly using meat that contains “slime”. We get grass fed beef from an organic farm near us.
Report Post »MamaSal
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 11:01pmDockscience…..if this pink-slime is ‘perfectly safe’…..why have they HIDDEN the fact that they even use it…and make it next to impossible for an informed consumer to find out if it is present in a particular brand of beef? Once you start HIDING things…..it starts to STINK!
Report Post »blackyb
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 6:10pmMaybe Michelle can hock this pink slime for more of the 500 dollar sneakers she wore to some homeless food gathering. Michelle Obama has the sensitivity of a log.
Report Post »patspeak
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 6:05pmAsh! Happy I go to the Butcher slop for my hamburger and meats.
Report Post »MamaSal
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 1:36amPatspeak, I hope that was just a TYPO….but it made me giggle….butcher SLOP? LMAO!!!
Report Post »Farmer John
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 6:03pmBoth Safeway and the USDA believe pink slime is “safe”. I don’t care! People don‘t want to eat everything that’s safe! Eating wood is probably safe, but not very palitable. I won’t even eat at McDonalds any more. If I want a hamburger, I grind a chuck roast myself.
Report Post »RedDawn2012
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 7:53amRight. And there IS wood is lots of foods, especially breads (read the contents for “cellulose fiber”). This pales in comparison to what some societies consider “food,” though. In France you can buy horse meat anywhere (egads!). In Asia dogs and cats are delicacies (in China the Chow breed is considered so delicious and special that it is served only on holidays) – OMG! And, of course, most of the world (France too) uses almost ALL of the animal. In northern Africa and Arabia you WILL be served sheep’s eyeballs (and are expected to eat it) – gag me! Americans are indeed pussycats by comparison, but I’ll happily live with that.
Report Post »kindling
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 6:00pmHere is the thing. We have been exposed to this CR@P for years and did not even know it. This is big government! I would like to know what else they are passing on to us. Why don’t they make it that only people on food stamps get this junk and maybe we would not have such a large number of people getting them.
Report Post »poster
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:59pm“Safeway is committed to providing our customers with the highest-quality products,” the company said in a statement…. LOL… Yeah, but we were selling you this crap all along. Pardon me, Safeway, but I don‘t believe you PR Department’s line of BS. What else are you selling that we would just LOVE to know about?
Report Post »blackyb
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:49pmSend that pink slime to the White House and let them use it for all their thug friends and people with their hands out.
Report Post »Warm In The Desert
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:47pmAn excellent followup campaign to this would be the eradication of all Commie Pinko Slime holding elected office!
Report Post »RedDawn2012
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 7:55amWhat? And leave DC empty?
Report Post »Unplug-the-MACHINE
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:34pmBig friggin’ deal. We been eatin’ hot dogs for a century.
Report Post »Shouldn’t we be more concerned with getting our country back?
hi
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:42pmThat is what I was going to say! I’ve been on farm field trips with the kids and they do not waste body parts! For example cow hoofs and lips are put I to making hot dogs.
Report Post »MamaSal
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 2:39amNope…don’t eat the hotdogs either….long ago developed an aversion to snouts and scrotums…..
Report Post »walkintruth
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:23pmDoes anyone know if it is in hot dogs or any other product?
Report Post »undercover
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:57pmDUH – pink slime is just another name for beef by-products. it IS hot dogs and balogna.
Report Post »Would you all grow up!
searching for the Truth
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 7:35pmProbably worst!
Report Post »soysauce
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 2:01amNot all hotdogs are created equal. Some are made from steak cuts, ground with plenty of mustard and spices. I’ll pass on the pink slime. Stick to good ole wheat berries for your depression era filler.
Report Post »Daveed
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:13pmI have bought from Safeway before and I always ask if their Ground Beef is freshly ground there. I was always told it was. I won’t trust Safeway ever again.
I purchased ground beef from a local Co-op. It is really really super fine and mild. I was told it was from local farms from wa. oregon and Idaho. Am I being told the truth? It was wierd and cooked really fast and rather fragile and fine. Does Malia or the other daughter dine on it?
Report Post »Restored One
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 6:05pmI rarely buy ground beef. I buy the london broil or sirloin when it is on sale and have them double grind it, it has less fat than the 93% and at $2-$4 per lb is a way better deal.
Report Post »MamaSal
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 2:42amThe stores that grind their own beef STILL can add this stuff…….so you question should have been “do you grind it here AND not add crap to it!!!”…..lol
Report Post »ForTheRepublic
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:08pmI sure am glad I buy my beef from the farm
Report Post »and have it slaughtered for me.
AngelOnline
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:10pmGreat advice. Only local beef for 5 years now (and now it’s cheaper than store bought) and many health problems disappeared.
Report Post »4xeverything
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:05pmCome on Kroger…grow a pair. When you do we will return to shopping with you. Until then, we are a Costco family.
Report Post »AngelOnline
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:05pmI have been told by a someone that has been a butcher for 30 years that the only ground beef in his store that is “real” is ground chuck that they make in-house from steak scraps. Requesting ground chuck from the butcher may be the way to go….but you will still need to ask to make sure! Sad…
Report Post »NO_MORE_OBAMA
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:02pmIf I cant kill it and skin it, I only eat chicken ;) Maybe a nice sub.
Report Post »MamaSal
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 2:44amOMG..now CHICKENS…that’s opening up a whole new can of worms!!! LOL
Report Post »antipolitician
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:02pmi would love a list of those that do not use this, also……….but could we trust the list.?
Report Post »AngelOnline
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:01pmLink to some major stores that use “pink slime” – not a full list……
Report Post »http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2012/03/20/avoiding-pink-slime-list-of-grocers-who-use-it-and-those-who-dont/
ZAP
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 4:53pmI eat road kill,it’s safer
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 4:55pm;-) I know hunted meat is.
Report Post »9111315
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 4:57pmNot if you’re too slow.
Report Post »WeekendAtBernankes
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:00pmlol IKR. I hear there are these ads up in Bolder, a picture of a hippy and it says “She won’t eat food with preservatives. She doesn’t think twice about dropping acid she bought from a total stranger.”
Report Post »spirited
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 4:50pmIs there “slime” in ground turkey?
Report Post »WeekendAtBernankes
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:00pmI hope so.
Report Post »ICRedifURBlue
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 12:29amJust look for “Mechanically Separated Meat” on the label of processed foods………….
Report Post »Exrepublisheep
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 4:48pmI wish there were a list of grocery stores that still used it.
Report Post »KOCHLEFFEL
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:44pmGo on “slime on line.com
Report Post »girlnurse
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 4:46pmWow. So the government gets us totally dependant on their food supply then starts adding this junk to the food supply thru USDA, etc. Who knows what other crap we’re eating. Good for Safeway and good on the people for speaking up and saying no! This may actually be propaganda to force us to be vegetarians..it wouldn’t surprise me…but thats okay…we can hunt and raise our own chickens if they haven’t banned that yet.
Report Post »saranda
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 6:46pmThat is really funny. This is not a result of government, it is a direct result of capitalism. The producer wastes nothing to maximize profits at the expenses of telling consumers the truth. Safeway has beendoing this for years to put lower cost filler in with “real” beef and is only speaking up now that the press makes it an issue. This stuff happens all the time in capitalism. Not terrible, just part of our system.
Report Post »objectivetruth
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 9:13amActually you are both correct in your thinking to a degree.No,I wouldn’t put it past them to do this to force vegetarianism.
Report Post »To Sarandra
This is not the product of government.That you are right on.It however isn’t a result of capitalism either.Its the product of manipulated advertising-speech.Form of false advertising if you will.Ommitence isn’t a crime or necessarily unethical in certain situations.However when the ommitance causes as much distrust as this does.It doesn’t bode well for the company.Capitalism thrives on truth not lies.This is especially true in the food sector.
Before any one jumps me here.I’m aware of buyer beware.However in the food industry you don’t always have the luxury of necessarily waiting while shopping around.
Etch_uh_Sketch
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 4:44pm*ZZZZZZZZ* *zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz* if we only could get rid of all the meat inspectors we could get the high quality meat a free society deserves. We , as a country, prefer rat poo and chemicals in our food while ensuring a higher profit margin for the packing industry.
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