Supermarkets Stop Selling ‘Pink Slime’ Beef: Is Your Grocery Store One Of Them?

By Amanda Remling | March 22 2012 2:49 PM

Following on the heels of school districts, many national supermarkets have agreed to stop purchasing ground beef that contains the pink slime filler. While federal regulators say that the pink slime or lean, finely textured beef, meets food safety standards, the filler is unappetizing to consumers.

The Inquisitr

"Pink slime" is certainly not the way to America's heart or stomach; and one ground beef processor found that out the hard way. AFA Foods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday, citing that the impact of the backlash over the meat filler dubbed "pink slime" by critics hurt its business.

Sponsorship Link

Pink slime is a mix of meat trimmings washed in ammonium hydroxide. At the end of January, McDonald's announced that it had decided to ban the pink slime from their fast food after customers discovered what they were really eating.

I do not consider the stuff to be ground beef, said U.S. Department of Agriculture microbiologist Geral Zirnstein to the Daily Mail in January, and I consider allowing it in ground beef to be a form of fraudulent labeling.

Discovering if the meat being purchased contains pink slime is difficult because it is not listed on food labels. Due to this, there is no telling how many companies use the filler.

The recent backlash has prompted some supermarkets from continuing to purchase and sell products containing the pink slime. Is your supermarket one of them?

Supervalu

Acme, Albertsons, Club Foods, Farm Fresh, Hornbacher's, Jewel-Osco, Lucky, Shaw's/Star Market, Shop 'n Save and Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, which are all operated under Supervalu, have discontinued carrying the products containing the filler. According to the Alternative Press, the company announced on Wednesday that customers lead them to their decision.

Food Lion

The Belgian Delhaize group which owns the Food Lion chain that operates Bloom, Harvey's and Reid's, have also announced that they will cease carrying beef with fillers. Christy Phillips-Brown, Spokeswoman for the food chain told the Alternative Press in a statement that the 80 percent lean ground beef that they currently sell does not contain fillers. Phillips-Brown also stated that the company is working with suppliers as they move forward with the change.

Safeway

The Safeway supermarket also operates Genuardi's and Dominicks food chains. They have also agreed to stop selling ground beef with filler.

According to CBS News, Stop & Shop, Whole Foods, Target and Costco have also decided to stop selling beef with pink slime due to customer concern.