TOPEKA–Kansas Governor Sam Brownback is joining a coalition of governors to support the U.S. beef industry and production of lean finely textured beef, sometimes called “pink slime.”
Lean finely textured beef has been eaten by Americans for 20 years. The production and food safety technologies employed to make lean finely textured beef are USDA-approved, and it is produced in USDA-inspected meat processing facilities.
Gov. Brownback joined Govs. Terry Branstad (Iowa); Dave Heineman (Nebraska); Rick Perry (Texas) and Lt. Gov. Matt Michels (South Dakota) to jointly issue the following statement:
“Our states proudly produce food for the country and the world – and we do so with the highest commitment toward product safety. Lean, finely textured beef is a safe, nutritious product that is backed by sound science. It is unfortunate when inaccurate information causes an unnecessary panic among consumers.
“By taking this safe product out of the market, grocery retailers and consumers are allowing media inaccuracies to trump sound science. This is a disservice to the beef industry, hundreds of workers who make their livings producing this safe product and consumers as a whole.
“Ultimately, it will be the consumer who pays for taking this safe product out of the market. The price of ground beef will rise as ranchers work to raise as many as 1.5 million more head of cattle to replace safe beef no longer consumed because of the baseless media scare.
“We urge grocery retailers, consumers, restaurants and members of the media to seek the facts behind lean finely textured beef. Science supports keeping the lean beef product on grocery store shelves for the benefit of American agriculture and consumers alike.”
The beef industry is a staple of the U.S. economy. In Kansas, the beef industry generates more than $6.5 billion in cash receipts a year. Already, more than 650 workers in Kansas, Texas and Iowa have been temporarily laid off. According to the National Meat Association, as many as 3,000 American jobs will be affected when suppliers are also factored in.
The coalition of governors and state leaders will tour BPI’s South Sioux City, Neb. facility Thursday.