Cargill to label meat after 'pink slime' uproar

Cargill Inc. says it will start labeling beef products that contain finely textured beef, an ingredient that came under attack as "pink slime."

The move by one of the world's largest beef processors comes as consumers increasingly demand more transparency in how agribusiness companies make the food they eat and how these products are disclosed on the packaging.

The debate over food labeling has roiled for months, from last year's public and media furor over a rival beef product — which critics had dubbed "pink slime" — to Tuesday's vote in Washington state over whether to require labeling of genetically modified foods.

Cargill's finely textured beef is a processed meat product made from chunks of beef, including trimmings, and exposed to citric acid to kill E. coli and other dangerous contaminants. The product, which Cargill has made since 1993, is used to produce higher-volume, less fatty ground beef.

Cargill said Tuesday that the new ground-beef packaging, slated to debut early next year, came about after the agribusiness firm surveyed more than 3,000 consumers over the past 18 months about their views on ground beef and how it is made. Read more >>