Safeway to stop buying "pink slime" beef filler

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Safeway Inc, the No. 2 supermarket operator, will stop buying the ammonia-treated beef filler critics call "pink slime" because of widespread customer concern, the company said on Wednesday.

The halt is a fresh blow to use of the ground beef filler, also known as lean finely textured beef, which has drawn criticism from food activists.

Although the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and industry experts said the filler is safe, "recent news stories have caused considerable consumer concern about this product," Safeway said in a statement.

"Safeway will no longer purchase ground beef containing lean finely textured beef."

The filler triggered a public outcry this month when the Internet news source The Daily reported that 7 million pounds of the product would appear in school lunches this spring.

After a furor over the report, the USDA said last week it was allowing school districts to opt out of using the beef filler starting next school year.

Fast-food chain McDonald's Corp stopped putting the USDA-approved ammonia-treated meat into its hamburgers in August after activists including celebrity chef Jamie Oliver drew attention to the additive.

http://news.yahoo.com/safeway-stop-buying-pink-slime-beef-filler-192740515.html

[X Factor 1,112]

Stop pink slime campaign is working

Edited March 22, 2012 by kennard

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Translation--they've found an even cheaper cut of beef and will be using it!

[MyLittlePony 340]

Safeway sucks so doesn't effect me i will never shop at rude expensive store. The store i shop at is less and has better products than Safeway i had few bad experiences at Safeway and will never go back nothing but a bs store.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Raley's, however, still includes pink slime in all their ground beef-like products.

[lostinblue 1,989]

What is pink slime?

[luckytxn 2,264]

Safeway sucks so doesn't effect me i will never shop at rude expensive store. The store i shop at is less and has better products than Safeway i had few bad experiences at Safeway and will never go back nothing but a bs store.

Long time ago Safeway was a big chain of stores in the area I lived. It was also known as cheap. If a store had cheaper stuff than Safeway I would be afraid to eat anything purchased there.

Raley's, however, still includes pink slime in all their ground beef-like products.

I delivered some crappy goods to their distribution center near Los Angeles a couple of months ago.

[MyLittlePony 340]

Customer concerns over "pink slime," the ground beef additive with the unfortunate nickname, have led Safeway and West Sacramento-based Raley's Fine Foods to stop selling products containing the filler.

The supermarket chains join a growing list of grocers nationwide, including Kroger Co. and Supervalu Inc., which owns the Albertsons and Lucky grocery chains, that have yanked the products.

The filler is known in the beef industry as "lean, finely textured beef," or LFTB.

Safeway on Wednesday said it will stop selling fresh or frozen ground beef with the filler.

Raley's officials released a statement that said it doesn't use the filler in its fresh ground beef products or in its "Black Angus" frozen beef patties. Raley's said it does sell other frozen beef patties with the additive, but will stop.

"We have made a decision going forward to no longer purchase frozen hamburger patties containing 'LFTB,' " Raley's officials said in a statement. "We made this decision based on customer desire to buy ground beef without LFTB."

Federal regulators say LFTB – made from fatty trimmings from other beef cuts that are heated to remove fat and then treated with ammonium hydroxide gas to kill E. coli and other bacteria – is a safe additive.

But consumers and critics say the beef filler could be unsafe and have marshaled opposition to pink slime through online petitions and social media. As the campaigns have grown, grocers have been responding.

Costco and Whole Foods said they have never sold products containing the filler. Wal-Mart and Sam's Club said they will begin selling meat that does not have the filler, but did not say they would stop selling meat that does.

Modesto-based Save Mart Supermarkets continues to stock ground beef products with and without the additive, spokeswoman Alicia Blackwell said. But Blackwell said Save Mart's vendors do not use ammoniated gas in their processes.

"If we didn't feel that a product was safe, we wouldn't serve it," she said. "We will do what is best for our consumers."

The grocer, with 17 stores in the Sacramento area, has fielded questions from customers about the filler, Rockwell said. Its website, www.savemart.com, has information about lean, finely textured beef on its "Consumer Alerts" page, including its selection of ground beef products without the additive.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/23/4359957/raleys-safeway-stop-selling-pink.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

Edited March 24, 2012 by *++*

[luckytxn 2,264]

Could have posted this in the thread already that talked about this. No need to make a new thread.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

What is pink slime?

Various parts of the cow not easily recognized turned pink by mixing with ammonia added to increase the leanness of the ground beef. Yum.

[Ban Hammer 13,403]

two posts removed for insults. if you can't post without the insults, you won't be able to post.

[MyLittlePony 340]

Long time ago Safeway was a big chain of stores in the area I lived. It was also known as cheap. If a store had cheaper stuff than Safeway I would be afraid to eat anything purchased there.

I delivered some crappy goods to their distribution center near Los Angeles a couple of months ago.

[/quot

This is not a insult?

[Ban Hammer 13,403]

This is not a insult?

only if the corporation safeway is a member here. nothing was said about the anyone working there, so knock off the drama.

Edited March 24, 2012 by charles!

[MyLittlePony 340]

only if the corporation safeway is a member here. nothing was said about the anyone working there, so knock off the drama.

No drama here just stating the facts a company does not put out crappy goods if they did the company would be out of business.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

No drama here just stating the facts a company does not put out crappy goods if they did the company would be out of business.

What about McDonalds, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Domino Pizza, Chili's, Olive Garden, etc.? They serve #######, charge too much for the #######, and still stay in business? Ford Focus? How can you explain that?