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Business
Courier...
Kroger
among U.S. grocers who use ‘pink slime’ in some products
by Tom
Demeropolis
Tuesday,
March 13, 2012
UPDATE: On Friday
evening, it was posted that Kroger will discontinue selling product
that include the "pink slime" note in this article. See story here.
Almost six
weeks after McDonald’s Corp. made headlines saying it would stop using
a meat
product that has been referred to as “pink slime,” Kroger Co. said the
product
is used in some of the ground beef sold at its stores.
That news
follows an ABC News report, which contacted the 10 largest grocers in
the
nation to see if their ground beef contains “finely textured lean
beef,” the
product made from beef trimmings after all the choice cuts of beef are
removed.
ABC News has been investigating the use of finely textured lean beef in
ground
beef sold at supermarkets.
After the
March 8 ABC Nightly News, the Business Courier asked Cincinnati-based
Kroger,
which operates 2,400 stores in 31 states, if the product was used in
the
grocer’s ground beef.
Kroger
(NYSE: KR) the nation’s largest traditional grocer, said it does use
“finely
textured lean beef” or so-called “pink slime” in some of its ground
beef
products.
About 70
percent of the ground beef sold at supermarkets contains the meat
filler,
according to the ABC News report. Finely textured lean beef is made
from
low-grade trimmings that are simmered in low heat, the fat and tissue
is
separated using a centrifuge, and it’s sprayed with ammonia gas to kill
germs.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it’s safe to eat.
The
spokeswoman for Kroger’s Cincinnati/Dayton division emailed the
following about
the grocer’s ground beef offerings:
“Kroger
carries ground beef both with and without lean finely textured beef.
For
customers who choose to avoid it, we offer a variety of options
including
Kroger’s Private Selection Angus Ground Chuck, Round and Sirloin;
Private
Selection All Natural Ground Beef and Private Selection Organic Ground
Beef
solid in 1 lb. packages, labeled 80% lean and above; Laura’s Lean
Ground Beef;
and ground beef prepared in store. All ground beef you find at your
local
Kroger is USDA-regulated, inspected and approved for food safety and
quality.
That includes beef products made with lean finely textured beef.”
Seven of
the top 10 grocery chains responded to ABC News’ email about use of
pink slime
in their ground beef. Costco
, Publix,
H-E-B and Whole Foods
all said they do
not use lean finely textured beef.
Safeway
said it is reviewing the matter, Stop
&
Shop/Giant also
uses the filler.
Read this
and other articles in the Business Courier
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