Southwest Kansas Meat Packing Plant Closes Amid Pink Slime Scrutiny
KSCB News - March 27, 2012 6:18 am
The company that makes "pink slime" is suspending operations at three of four plants where the low-cost beef filler is made amid a public outcry over concern about the ingredient.
Beef Products Inc. spokesman Craig Letch on Monday told The Associated Press about the operations suspensions at plants in Amarillo, Holcomb, and Waterloo, Iowa ahead of a public announcement about the
plan. The company’s plant at its Dakota Dunes, S.D., headquarters will continue operations.
The ammonia-treated ingredient known by the industry as "lean, finely textured beef" has been used for years but recently became a target of activists seeking to have it banned from supermarkets and school lunches. The U.S. Department of Agriculture decided to allow school districts to stop using it. Some retail chains have pulled products containing it.
Closing the BPI plant in Holcomb will cost that area 236 jobs. Employees will receive full pay and benefilts through May 25. Company officials hope the closings are temporary but employees were informed Monday that the closing is permanent.
