Empirical Foods, formerly named Beef Products Inc. (BPI),[1] is an American meat processing company based in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota. Prior to high media visibility of its products, it was a major supplier to fast food chains, groceries and school lunch programs. It had three additional plants, which closed in 2012.
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Meat processing |
| Founded | 1981 Amarillo, Texas, U.S. |
| Founders | Eldon Roth Regina Roth |
| Headquarters | |
| Website | empiricalfoods |
History
editBeef Products Inc. was established in 1981 by Eldon Roth.[2][3]
In 2007, after the USDA reviewed BPI's processing technique, the company was exempted from routine testing of hamburger meat.[4]
In December 2009, The New York Times reported that as early as 2003, school lunch officials and other customers had complained that the product tasted and smelled like ammonia, after which the company devised a plan to make a less alkaline version. The USDA determined that at least some of BPI's product was no longer receiving "the full lethality treatment." The New York Times reported that BPI's products had tested positive for E. coli three times and salmonella 48 times since 2005. This prompted the USDA to revoke the exemption and conduct a review of the company's practices.[4]
In July 2011, after widespread coverage of an unrelated E. coli outbreak in Germany linked to sprouts, Beef Products Inc. began voluntarily testing its beef products for six additional strains of E. coli contamination because the FDA had not taken any formal actions for increased safety actions.[5] The testing began at one of its plants, with a planned expansion to the rest of its U.S. plants when the test kit manufacturer could increase its production to meet the demand.[5]
In 2012, after a series of ABC News reports, concern amongst the public led McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, Wal-Mart, Safeway, and several other grocery stores to abandon the product.[6][7][8] Company officials suspended production at three of its four plants.[9] The United States Department of Agriculture issued a statement supporting the product's safety,[10] and the company launched a public relations offensive with the help of governors Rick Perry, Terry Branstad, and Sam Brownback, who joined ABC News on a tour of the remaining plant.[11]
Beef Products Inc. closed its facilities in Amarillo, Texas; Garden City, Kansas; and Waterloo, Iowa on May 25, 2012.[6]
On September 13, 2012, the company announced it would be suing ABC News for $1.2 billion in a defamation lawsuit.[12]
BPI was a major supplier to McDonald's and Burger King,[4] as well as restaurants and grocery stores, and its products were reportedly used in 75% of the United States' hamburger patties in 2008.[2] The School Lunch Program, another large buyer of Beef Product's goods, used about 5.5 million pounds in 2009.[4][13]
Product
editBeef Products Inc. is the creator of a product called "lean finely textured beef," also known as "pink slime." The latter term was first used in 2002 by a Food Safety Inspection Service worker.[14]
In 2002, it patented a process that turns materials that had previously gone for pet food or oil into products for human consumption.[15] In this process, beef trimmings are warmed, put through a centrifuge to remove fat, then treated with ammonia to increase pH and kill bacteria.[16][17]
The product is found as a lean meat source which has been added to ground beef, constituting up to 25 percent of the final product.[2][18] This process is approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration.[19]
Carol Tucker Foreman, director of the Food Safety Institute for the Consumer Federation of America, and Nancy Donley, president of the industry-funded group Safe Tables Our Priority, are strong backers of this technology-based approach to food safety.[2][11] Journalists, however, have questioned the safety of meat treated with the process.[4][20]
References
edit- ^ "BPI announces corporate name change, leadership transition". 3 April 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d Shin, Annys (June 12, 2008). "Engineering a Safe Burger". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Beef Products Inc. - History". Archived from the original on 2012-03-18. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
- ^ a b c d e Moss, Michael (December 30, 2009). "Safety of Beef Processing Method Is Questioned". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
- ^ a b Neuman, William (15 July 2011). "Food Companies Act to Protect Consumers From E. Coli Illness". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
- ^ a b Kesmodel, David (8 May 2012). "Beef Products to Shut Plants Over 'Pink Slime' Fallout". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
- ^ Feran, Tim (23 Mar 2012). "Kroger, Giant Eagle won't sell 'pink slime' meat". Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
- ^ Gruley, Brian and Elizabeth Campbell (12 Apr 2012). "The Sliming of Pink Slime's Creator". Businessweek. Archived from the original on April 13, 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
- ^ Blaney, Betsy (26 Mar 2012). "'Pink slime' maker halts production at some plants". Associated Press. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
- ^ "USDA Affirms Safety of Lean Finely Textured Beef Product for Consumers" (xml) (Press release). United States Department of Agriculture. 15 Mar 2012. Retrieved 1 Aug 2012.
- ^ a b Avila, Jim (29 Mar 2012). "'Dude, It's Beef!': Governors Tour Plant, Reject 'Pink Slime' Label". ABC News. Retrieved 1 Apr 2012.
- ^ "Meat processor sues ABC News over 'pink slime' reports". USA Today. 13 September 2012. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
- ^ Leonard, Christopher; Anderson, Mae (1 Jan 2010). "Consumers back ammonia-treated beef after report". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
- ^ "'Pink slime:' Combo of connective tissue, scraps hidden in your kids' lunch". Fox News Channel. 8 March 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ^ Levenstein, Harvey (2012). Fear of food : a history of why we worry about what we eat. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. pp. 59. ISBN 978-0226473741.
- ^ "Anatomy of a Burger". The New York Times. 4 Oct 2009. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
- ^ Moss, Michael (3 Oct 2009). "The Burger that Shattered Her Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
- ^ Avila, Jim (8 Mar 2012). "Is Pink Slime in the Beef at Your Grocery Store?". ABC News. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
- ^ Williams, Carol (28 July 2011). "'Pink slime' in burgers stirs debate". ABC News. Retrieved 6 July 2012.[dead link]
- ^ Bob Cesca (4 Jan 2010). "I'll have a burger and fries with everything – hold the ammonia". Daily Finance. Retrieved 22 Jan 2012.