With several supermarket chains — including Kroger and Safeway — opting to stop selling ground beef that contains “lean, finely textured beef,” the ammonia-treated filler affectionately known as “pink slime,” the company that pumps out the stuff has had to suspend production at three of its four slime-making facilities.

According to the AP, the three plants — in Amarillo, TX, Garden City, KS, and Waterloo, IA — had been responsible for producing a total of 900,000 pounds of the filler each day. A plant in South Dakota will still be producing it.

“We feel like when people can start to understand the truth and reality then our business will come back,” a rep for the company tells the AP. “It’s 100 percent beef.”

The USDA has said the filler, which has been used for decades to pad out our beef patties, is completely safe to eat.

Those opposed to its use in ground beef say that consumers are being rooked into buying something that is “a salvage product.”

The 200 employees at each of the three plants will continue to get full salary and benefits for 60 days while production is suspended.

‘Pink slime’ maker suspends some plant operations [AP]

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