Who's afraid of pink slime?

Right now, there are no proven cases of illness as a result of eating LFTB. But that doesn't mean people don't have their doubts about the product.

Part of the squabble is that there's no requirement to mention the presence of LFTB on food labels. Some people, including USDA scientist Gerald Zirnstein, who wrote the original "pink slime" e-mail, and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, consider selling ground beef with LFTB filler consumer fraud and call for LFTB labeling on packaging. Plus, Zirnstein told The Daily that he thinks the overall protein quality of ground beef is compromised when LFTB is added.

Another rub is that Beef Products representatives made a claim that ground beef with LFBT is safer than ground beef without LFTB. This is simply not true, according to a number of sources. Just because the LFTB is treated doesn't mean it disinfects the meat into which it's mixed. In fact, because LFTB is designed as a filler to expand the supply of ground beef and its presence makes meat more affordable, if a supply of meat were tainted with E. coli or salmonella, then the fact that LFTB had been added to it would mean it would actually reach and potentially harm more consumers, public health lawyer Michelle Simon told ABC News.

Whereas before pink slime was added to ground beef as a cheap filler to save money, its presence has now become a profit and sales headache for companies that sell beef. Supermarkets, fast food chains and other companies are racing each other to announce that products with pink slime are sliding off their shelves -- permanently -- or that they will now only carry ground beef that indicates LFTB on the labeling, a practice recently endorsed by the USDA and by LFTB producers.

The furor against pink slime peaked in early 2012 when the USDA announced the agency would make available to school districts 7 million pounds of ground beef that included LFTB. Oodles of major TV networks and newspapers picked up the story, and it was shared across social media sites, resulting in a petition on Change.org that gathered 200,000 signatures in nine days. In short order, the USDA announced that starting in the fall of 2012 school districts would have a choice of beef with or without LFTB.

In truth, because of how the industry is set up, there's no way to tell for sure if LFTB has ever affected anyone's health. The USDA does not trace food poisoning origins to the processor, sources told ABC News.

And as horrible as pink slime sounds, there are some drawbacks to eliminating its use. Without LFTB, more cattle must be raised and slaughtered to meet the demand for ground beef. And of course cattle are often kept in less-than-desirable conditions, pumped with antibiotics and fed foods not natural to their diets, pointed out Robin Shreeves, writer for Mother Nature Network. Plus, there's the issue of lost jobs. Beef Products, Inc., has now closed three of its four plants, and another LFTB company, AFA Foods Inc., has filed for bankruptcy.

Nevertheless, understandably, people want to know what's in the food they eat, so the USDA endorsement of LFTB-related food labeling is generally viewed as a step in the right direction. The USDA claims its inspectors will certify that ground beef labeled as either "contains Lean Finely Textured Beef" or "LFTB free" is true to those words.

In the meantime, if you're looking for a pink-slime-free meal, check out this list of LFTB-free restaurants and supermarkets: "Where You Can Get 'Pink-Slime'-Free Beef." Otherwise, the best way to make sure you're ordering LFTB-free ground beef at the grocery is to take NPR's advice and have your butcher grind up a slab right in front of your eyes.