The pink slime storm of controversy may have faded a bit since it hit in March, but the after-effects are still being felt. Beef Products Inc. announced that it will permanently close three processing plants this month, due to the ruckus over its meat product, according to a company official.

BPI suspended operations at three of its four plants in March, but this closing will cause a loss of around 650 jobs, says the Detroit Free Press. Plants will close on May 25 in Amarillo, Texas; Garden City, Kansas and Waterloo, Iowa. The plant in South Sioux City, Neb., will remain open but run at reduced capacity.

The company previously insisted that its product wasn’t “pink slime,” but lean, finely textured beef that has been heated and treated with bacteria-killing ammonia. BPI says it took a “substantial” hit from the controversy.

“We will continue communicating the benefits of BPI’s lean beef, but that process is much more difficult than (countering) the campaign to spread misinformation that brought us to this point,” spokesman Rich Jochum said in a statement.

Both Iowa and Nebraska’s governors have decried the closing, citing the loss of jobs.

BPI to close 3 plants, blaming pink slime uproar [Detroit Free Press]

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