Safeway eliminating ‘pink slime’ from ground beef
By Eve Mitchell, Contra Costa Times
Bowing to public pressure, Safeway said Wednesday it will no longer use a controversial filler called “pink slime” in its hamburger meat.
Safeway, the nation’s second-largest supermarket chain, joins several other stores, including Whole Foods, Costco and Nob Hill Foods, in rejecting hamburger with the filler, called lean finely textured beef by retailers, the meat industry and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Whole Foods and Costco say their hamburger has never contained the filler.
“Safeway is committed to providing our customers with the highest-quality products. 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,” the Pleasanton-based grocery chain said in a statement.
The filler is a meat product made from fat trimmings that are heated so that small traces of lean meat can be separated and added back to the ground beef.
Walmart and Sam’s Club also announced Wednesday they will begin offering fresh ground beef products that don’t contain the filler.