‘Pink Slime’ Phased Out of Mineola Schools

A national outcry has ensued following an announcement over plans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to purchase ammonia-treated ground beef for national school lunch programs.

Dubbed “pink slime,” the substance is officially known as “Lean Finely Textured Beef” and is made from the undesirable parts of the slaughtered cow. Because these portions can be highly susceptible to contamination, they were discarded or used for dog food.

In 2000, Beef Products, Inc. began processing these pieces through a centrifuge and treating them with ammonia to produce a meat filler. The ammonia used in the process was not included on the packaging labels since it had been dubbed a “processing agent” and not an ingredient.

Most of the “pink slime” was found in hamburger patties served as part of school lunches provided by the USDA.

The hamburgers were a driving symbol used by Real Food For Kids, a grassroots group advocating for more whole, fresh foods in schools, to argue the county's food offerings need an overhaul: The hamburger patty currently served

"Why not just beef?" they've asked for the past year. 

In response to cries across the country against the product — including a petition that had nearly 250,000 signatures – the USDA said last week it will offer schools two types of ground meat to serve students.

The change comes as the schools' Food Services department prepares to undergo an independent assessment and analysis.

According to the Mineola American, the Mineola School District had investigated the “pink slime” issue in the 2010 school year, concluding that continuing to include beef trimmings in lunches would not be appropriate. The district does serve deli products provided by the USDA.

Mineola’s meat provider is Whitson Culinary Group, acquiring its meats from New Jersey-based Wonder Meats Inc., which has stated that it currently does not and has no plans to purchase from Beef Products, Inc.

Schools aren't the only ones affected by the "pink slime." The Huffington Post reported the beef is mixed into 70 percent of the ground beef sold at grocers around the country; meat-packers and other stores aren't required to label it LFTB, however, because the USDA still recognizes it as meat.

Giant Food announced Thursday it was working to convert its fresh and frozen store brand beef products to those that do not contain LFTB, though LFTB is "safe and in compliance with all USDA standards for lean beef," said a spokeswoman for Giant's Landover, Md., office, which oversees the chain's supermarket locations in the Greater Washington, D.C. area.

She said the stores believe it will take a few weeks to sell the current inventory of fresh and frozen products. Stores will post signs in the meat departments letting customers know when their fresh ground beef is LFTB-free, she said.