School Lunches, Ammonia-treated Ground Beef | featured news

“Pink slime,” or “lean, finely textured beef” filler treated with ammonia to kill bacteria, has been making the headlines recently in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture decision to make 7 million pounds of ground beef containing “pink slime” available to school districts for use in school meals.

News of the ammonia-treated additive, formally called lean finely textured beef, set off a reaction by schools and an announcement by the Agriculture Department.

"Pink slime" just went from a simmer to a boil. In less than a week earlier this month, the stomach-turning epithet for ammonia-treated ground beef filler suddenly became a potent rallying cry by activists fighting to ban the product from supermarket shelves and school lunch trays.