Can You Rinse Pink Slime Out of Ground Beef?

Three governors, amidst them recent presidential candidate Rick Perry of Texas, 2 lieutenant governors, and the Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture all went to bat for Beef Products Inc. in a press conference in South Sioux City, Nebraska Thursday to assure consumers that Lean Finely Textured Beefiness, at present widely known every bit "pink slime," is safe and nutritious.

The outcome was part of a broader effort this week to fight negative printing coverage and win back consumers after the company was forced to suspend operations at 3 of its four plants — halting around 70 pct of its product chapters — as major national retailers similar Kroger and Safeway dropped the production.

"We need to stand together to clear up the misinformation that has been circulating in the media," said Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, who helped organize the consequence. "These accusations are totally unfounded… I am proud to say that for 20 years I and my family have been eating it."

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback chosen the national controversy over LFTB "an unmerited and unwarranted food scare" and said information technology would lead to college lean ground beef prices and cause more people to buy college fat ground meat.

"Dude, it'southward beef!" said Brownback. "It'southward good beefiness."

The governors largely echoed the message put out past the American Meat Constitute but earlier the outcome. In a press release, AMI urged the media to stop using the term "pink slime."

"Permit's call this product what it is and make 'pink slime' a term of the past," said Gov. Perry, who warned that unchecked "social media rumors" and "hysteria" could take down any industry. "What manufacture is not vulnerable to this blazon of fast-spreading misinformation. If the beef manufacture can succumb to this, who's side by side?"

Nutrient prophylactic experts including STOP Foodborne Illness President Nancy Donley and director of the Center for Nutrient Prophylactic at Texas A&Chiliad University Gary Acuff spoke in support of BPI's nutrient safety record and testing policies, which are ahead of the curve for the industry.

"It's critical to have companies that put nutrient safety outset," said Donley, who lost her simply son to E. coli contaminated ground beef in 1993. Donley said she believes BPI's nutrient condom record is "unchallengeable."

"I recollect these folks have saved lives. They don't know it, they can never prove it, they can never show it, that you or yous or yous, or your child is live because of something they've done," said Donley, in an emotional address that received a continuing ovation. "I'k really afraid of what campaigns similar this tin can practise to impact all of food rubber…why would a company want to go that extra footstep, go that extra walk, only to put a target on their back?"

Fiscal ties questioned

The 45-infinitesimal press conference was tense at times. During two very heated exchanges between ABC News and the panel of speakers, BPI's financial ties to both Gov. Terry Branstad and STOP Foodborne Illness were called into question.

In their online financial disclosure forms, STOP lists a $250,000 contribution in 2010 from an anonymous donor and a single $500,000 donation in 2009, also from an anonymous donor.

Nancy Donley fiercely defended her nonprofit's independence and said Finish would gladly take "no strings fastened" donations from other other corporations to help further their cause.

"We have been very grateful to BPI for being supportive of u.s.," said Donley. "BPI has never asked us for a unmarried thing — ever. We volition never exist compromised in our position of protecting consumers from pathogens in the food supply. That is or mission, period. My goal is to put my arrangement out of business organization, so that there are no foodborne disease victims anymore — that is my professed goal. No price tin can be put on my son's head! I tin can't be bought and neither can my organization!"

Gov. Branstad was too questioned about what impact BPI's $152,000 contribution to his 2010 campaign had on his decision to speak out in back up of the visitor.

"None whatsoever!" shouted Branstad. "Let me tell you this, I will e'er fight for my constituents and I will e'er fight for what'south right, and I will never be intimidated by anybody in the printing who tries to make those accusations."

Both Donley and Branstad'due south responses were met with loud applause from the audition.

President and CEO of BPI, Eldon Roth, has long been a donor to a number of candidates and campaigns. According to Federal Election Commission data, Roth and his wife take together given more than than $380,000 over the years to presidential and congressional campaigns, political activity committees (PACs), and to large party organizations, like the Republican National Committee. The Roths also contributed $21,000 to Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman'south 2010 election campaign.

The Roths have been engaged in the 2012 election, too. In October the couple donated $190,000 to country-level PACs in v states set up by presidential candidate Mitt Romney,  co-ordinate to the Washington Post.

Bulletin war

Whether BPI and its supporters can win the message state of war remains to be seen.

"BPI has a major PR problem," said Marion Nestle, a Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health professor at New York Academy. "The name "pink slime" is a framing device that is virtually incommunicable to counter."

"Obviously, BPI has the political clout to pull in governors, USDA officials, and even food condom advocates on its behalf. I can't help wondering whether their support for pink slime derives from a genuine belief that the public has treated BPI unfairly, or whether they are responding to the generous campaign contributions and charitable donations by BPI's owner," added Nestle, who has written several books on nutrient politics and food safety. "I'grand willing to grant that pinkish slime is prophylactic, only that doesn't make it acceptable."

The term "pinkish slime" — which Gov. Brownback called an unfortunately tricky name — was first used by former USDA microbiologist Gerald Zirnstein in a private email to department colleagues. The New York Times later obtained the email via a Liberty of Information Deed request and used the quote in an article that questioned the prophylactic of BPI's procedure.

Under Secretary Elisabeth Hagen said the term "pink slime" was not "certainly non whatever kind of official terminology" and is non widely used jargon in the meat industry.

At to the lowest degree 2 online petitions have been launched on behalf of BPI. One on change.org called "Sustainable Nutrient Petition: Beef Is Beef" had well over iii,000 signatures every bit of Th and the other, "Address libel, slander and social media influencing authorities agency decisions" is posted at whitehouse.gov has a trivial over 1,500 — the latter takes issue with the USDA's contempo policy change, which gives school districts a choice on whether they will purchase ground beef that contains LFTB. The White House has pledged to respond to petitions that garner at least 25,000 signatures.

For recent Nutrient Safety News coverage on the LFTB controversy, see: "BPI Suspends 70 Percent of Ammoniated Beef Production."

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Source: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/03/bpi-calls-in-political-star-power-to-help-wash-ammoniated-beef-of-pink-slime-image/

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