United Group Insurance

Maker of ‘pink slime’ continues to struggle

Ag/Outdoor

May 19th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

SIOUX CITY, Iowa(AP) — The beef-processing company that makes the product that critics call “pink slime” continues to struggle more than a year after the initial stories on the lean bits of beef that Beef Products Inc. produced. The Sioux City Journal reports the Dakota Dunes, S.D., based company lost 80 percent of its business after the uproar over what BPI calls lean finely textured beef.

The meat BPI separated from trimmings and treated with ammonia to kill bacteria was widely used in hamburger, but consumers objected to it after media reports depicted it as unsavory. The private company closed three of its four plants, scrapped expansion plans in South Sioux City and eliminated more than 700 jobs. Those won’t return soon.