Vilsack: Beef Consumption Steady

WASHINGTON — U.S. beef consumption has remained strong despite attacks questioning the safety of lean trimmings in hamburger, the country’s top agriculture official said in an interview Friday.

“We haven’t really seen that much of a drop, maybe a small one-tenth of one percent kind of drop, not significant,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said after speaking before the Greater Des Moines Partnership, a business group from central Iowa. We’re “still seeing strong markets,” he said.

Vilsack said the department continues to get the word out to the public about lean, finely textured beef, known by critics as “pink slime,” so consumers can decide for themselves whether they want to purchase products made with the ammonia-treated trimmings. The additive, he said, is safe, has less fat, and in many cases is less expensive than products made without lean, finely textured beef.

“Eventually, people are going to be looking at a variety of factors as they make decisions in tough economic times. School districts may be faced with tight budgets, and if they’re faced with tight budgets, they have to make tough decisions in terms of this,” Vilsack said.

To read the rest of the story, please go to: Des Moines Register