Letter: 'Pink slime' is safe and cheaper
A hamburger made from ground beef containing "lean, finely textured beef" (aka, "pink slime") is on the right, and one made from pure 85% lean ground beef is on the left. Credit: AP
The Obama administration has once again kowtowed to pressure ["Most schools shun 'pink slime' in lunch," News, June 6].
The term pink slime was coined by a microbiologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to describe a decades-old process in which beef scrapings were rendered as filler to add to ground beef. Not only is the product safe and less costly, it is also lower in fat and its production put people to work.
The U.S.D.A. has affirmed that the beef product is a safe and nutritious additive, but the agency will now offer ground beef without the filler to school districts as part of the National School Lunch Program -- at an additional cost.
With a budget deficit at an all-time high and an unemployment rate that has not recovered, a responsible administration would encourage the purchase of the safe and less costly product.
President Barack Obama needs to save this industry and the taxpayers another burden.
Jim McConville, Shirley
Editor's note: The writer retired as the food service administrator for John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson after 28 years.
