:: UPDATED WITH SHOPRITE INFO
A little less than a year ago, I bought a half of a pastured grass-fed cow. You can read more about why I decided to pay $6/lb for beef, but the bottom line is that I wanted to to what went in to my food and that the beef that we were eating came from 1 healthy cow, not a mixture of 15 different cows that were all ground together in some giant machine.
I first heard about pink slime (also known as “Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings – BLBT” or “Lean Finely Textured Beef – LFTB”) while watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and how it was used to make chicken nuggets at fast food places. It never occurred to me that it might be in the ground beef that I buy in the stores. Then Alecia left this comment about pink slime on a post, and I was even more certain that I had made the correct decision to buy that cow.
Pink Slime has been in the news quite a bit recently, as it has been revealed that it IS in the ground beef that we buy in 70% of the supermarkets in the US. Coupons Deals and More has put together a national list of what stores do and do not use pink slime in their meats.
For my local readers, here are the stores in Southeast PA and their position on pink slime:
- A&P (Pathmark, Superfresh) – does not use pink slime
- Giant (Ahold) –
Stores operated by the divisions of Ahold USA do carry ground beef made with Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings (BLBT), also called Finely Textured Beef (FTB)UPDATE: Giant has stated that they will no longer be using pink slime in their meats - Genuardi’s (Safeway) – does – We rely on the federal government to help guide us on food safety issues. USDA has been clear in its judgment that Lean Finely Textured Ground Beef is a safe source of nutrition. However, we are reviewing the matter at this time.
- Acme (SuperValu)) –
does use pink slimeUPDATE: Acme has stated that they will no longer be using pink slime in their meats - Wegmans – does (sorta) – While most ground beef contains a small percentage of boneless lean beef trimmings, our processor does not use ammoniated meat products in the production of fresh ground beef
- Weis Supermarket –
does use pink slime in their ground beefUPDATE: Weis has stated that they will no longer be using pink slime in their meats - Shop Rite – Laura noted on the Moms Need To Know Facebook page that “ShopRite has come out publicly to state that they’ve never used “pink slime” either, and 100% of their ground beef is ground at the store”
These are just Philadelphia-area stores. Check out a list of stores in other areas as well as national chains at Coupons Deals and More!
What do you think about pink slime? Will you change your buying habits because of the list?
