Lean finely textured beef (LFTB), a product resulting from a process approved by the Food and Drug Administration 20 years ago, and used in hundreds of foods, as well as ground beef, was at the center of a controversy initiated by consumer media and stoked by social media. The sensational attention, in the face of science totally to the contrary, led to a precipitous decline in its use. The result was that BPI, maker of LFTB, announced this week the permanent closure of three of its four manufacturing plants....More

On April 24, USDA confirmed a positive test result of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in a dairy cow in California. USDA has confirmed this animal did not enter the human food or animal feed supply. USDA is conducting an investigation to confirm the origin and age of this animal. In a media conference held on Tuesday evening, Guy Loneragan, epidemiologist and professor of food safety and public health and at Texas Tech University, provided an update on the case....More

April 12, 2011, was the day that celebrity chef Jamie Oliver launched the “pink slime” term into the blogosphere with a crude, but compelling, depiction on TV of how BPI manufactures its lean finely textured beef (LFTB). That’s also the day the industry and BPI should have gone on the offensive against this and other gross misrepresentations of a legitimate, nutritious, safe and economical source of protein for Americans....More