Iowa Gov., U.S. Ag. Secretary Launch Pink Slime Promotion Effort
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack say they are launching a campaign against "misinformation" about a beef product known as pink slime.
Speaking Wednesday at an Iowa Statehouse news conference, the two argued a product they referred to as "lean, finely textured beef" is safe, nutritious and low in fat. Vilsack says the USDA wouldn't allow it if the product wasn't safe.
Besides holding the news conference, Branstad will join with other governors Thursday to tour a Beef Products Inc. plant in South Sioux City, Neb., where the product is produced. An uproar about the product prompted Beef Products to suspend operations at plants in Amarillo, Texas; Garden City, Kan.; and Waterloo, Iowa.
Branstad says he'll eat some of the meat to demonstrate it's safe.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
