The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
March 30, 2012

Republican Governors Defend "Pink Slime" Meat Product 
------------------------------------------------------



A group of Republican governors toured a Nebraska meat processing plant
on Thursday to show support for so-called "pink slime," the meat
additive used as a filler in beef products. "Pink slime," or finely
textured lean beef, is composed of fatty bits of meat left over from
other cuts. It's drawn recent national scrutiny over safety concerns
about the chemicals used to kill bacteria. This week its main producer,
Beef Products, suspended operations in Texas, Kansas and Iowa. Kansas
Governor Sam Brownback said pink slime has been unfairly criticized.

Sam Brownback: "We've lost three hundred jobs in Kansas off of this. Off
of a good, wholesome, safe product that's been consumed for 20 years
without a problem. And that's why we are here pushing back. And I hope.
I really hope that people in America take a second look and thought
about what this really is and work with it. If there was a safety issue
I am absolutely for going after every safety issue on food. Whatever it
is, we should go after it and we are and we have been as an industry.
That's not what this is. This isn't merited and I hope people can take
another look at it and see this is a quality beef product."



.