As the
list of customers refusing to buy “pink slime” continues to increase,
production is shutting down.
That’s
sending ripples through the entire beef-packing food chain, making many traders
nervous about where cattle prices are heading.
Beef
Products Inc., the biggest processor of “pink slime” has shut down three of its
four plants for 60 days, waiting to see what will happen.
It uses
ammonia to treat beef trimmings that were previously sold as pet food or went
for rendering. The market for these trimmings increased after the United States
Department of Agriculture declared it safe for human consumption.
But when a
meat inspector appeared on a national television program to criticize the
product and call it “pink slime,” consumers and retailers began demanding that
none of it be included in their hamburgers.
British
chef, Jamie Oliver, also dissed the product.
Because
the demand has plunged, there’s an assumption that cattle prices will decline.
However, others say the demand for cull cows might increase because the
industry will need more of them to provide meat to fill the market that was
served by “pink slime”.
Rich
Jochum, corporate administrator for Beef Products Inc. of South Dakota, said
that the temporary closures of the three plants could become "a permanent
suspension."
"This
is a direct reaction to all the misinformation about our lean beef,"
Jochum told the Reuters news agency.
The
company shut down operations Monday
at its plants in Amarillo, Texas, Finney County, Kansas, and Waterloo, Iowa.
They employ 650 people making 550,000 pounds per day.
Two of the
biggest U.S. supermarket operators, Safeway and Supervalu, have said they will
stop buying the ammonia-treated beef. Closer to home, Wegman’s of upper New York
State has stopped buying the “lean, finely-textured beef,” which is the
industry term for the product.
McDonald's
stopped using USDA-approved ammonia-treated meat in its hamburger products last
summer.
The
company's largest plant, based in South Sioux City, Neb., will remain open and
in operation, Jochum said.
"The
demand in the market will hopefully resume," Jochum said.
BPI,
founded in 1981, began as a processor of frozen beef products. In 2001, the
company emerged as a key player in the nation's ground beef industry after
federal regulators approved the firm's process of using ammonia in the beef
processing to remove foodborne pathogens such as salmonella and E.coli O157:H7.
In
general, BPI uses a heat and centrifuge process to melt the fat, collect and
mash the meat, and spray ammonia hydroxide on it to remove possible bacteria
and pathogens. The final product -- which is formed into blocks, frozen and
shipped in boxes -- is relatively low in fat and often used as a cheap filler.
