Charleston , Kanawha County , West Virginia

If you eat ground beef, you could also be eating a substance given the unflattering name, "pink slime". It's used while packaging meat and has become the talk of the nation.

The pink slime is really lean, finely textured beef (LFTB). It's taken from fat trimmings and sprayed with ammonia gas to kill germs. And although it's fully approved by the USDA for safety and quality, consumers like Debbie Shanklin in Charleston don't want it in their burgers. "What I wanted before was the lean ground beef and only lean ground beef in it. Now I don't know what they're putting in it," explained Shanklin.

Deputy Commissioner from the WV Department of Agriculture Bob Tabb says if you buy ground beef from a butcher in West Virginia, you won't get the slime. "In West Virginia, our facilities do the hand trimming. It's not mechanically separated, so we don't have that in our product here. But there are stores that could buy this product and add it to the meat as they're grinding it," he said.

In response to customer backlash, many grocery chains across the nation like ACME, Shop 'n Save and Kroger recently stopped using the filler.

Debbie says she will still be extra careful when it comes to buying her beef.

"For my family, I'll wait until they have something that's labeled lean without pink slime because until then, I'm not going to be buying hamburgers," she said.

How To Contact WCHS-TV8 | Privacy Policy | FCC Public File | Terms and Conditions | DMCA Policy | Frequently Asked Questions

Home | Eyewitness News Newsroom | Storm Team Weather | Eyewitness Sports | Schedules

---

Send email to news@wchstv.com for information or comments concerning WCHS-TV Eyewitness News.

Copyright ©2013, WCHS-TV8. Portions are
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or distributed.