‘Pink slime’ scratched from many schools’ menus

NEW YORK — The nation’s school districts are turning up their noses at “pink slime,” the beef product that caused a public uproar earlier this year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the vast majority of states participating in its National School Lunch Program have opted to order ground beef that doesn’t contain the product known as lean finely textured beef.

Only three states — Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota — chose to order beef that may contain the filler.

The product has been used for decades and federal regulators say it’s safe to eat. It nevertheless became the center of national attention after the nickname “pink slime” was quoted in a New York Times article on the safety of meatprocessing methods.

The filler is made of fatty bits of beef that are heated then treated with a puff of ammonia to kill bacteria.

In response to the public outcry over its use, the USDA said in March said that it would for the first time offer schools the choice to purchase beef without the filler for the coming 2012-13 school year. The agency has continued to affirm that lean finely textured beef is a safe, affordable and nutritious product that reduces overall fat content.

Beef Products Inc., the South Dakota company that makes the product, said in an e-mailed statement that the development is not reflective of the quality or safety of the beef it produces.

The company this month announced that it will shutter three of its four plants as a result of the controversy. It has set up a website, beefisbeef.com, to clarify what it says are myths about the product.