English

Alternative forms

• LFTB, lean, finely textured beef

Noun

lean finely textured beef ‎(uncountable)

1. (in the meat industry, on product packaging, euphemistic) A meat byproduct produced from otherwise unusable material such as skin and connective, spinal, and digestive tissues by heating and then mixing with ammonia in a centrifuge to produce a food additive.
   • 2001, Meat Science and Applications (Y. H. Hui, Wai-Kit Nip, Robert W. Rogers), page 455:

     Two such materials that have been available for only a relatively short period of time are lean finely textured beef (LFTB) and lean finely textured pork (LFTP). They are obtained by low-temperature recovery of protein from trimmed beef […]

   • 2002, Steve Taylor, Advances in Food and Nutrition Research, volume 44, page 168:

     In a related study, Van Laack et al. (1997) studied the residual color of patties prepared from normal or high pH beef and lean finely textured beef. Addition of lean finely textured beef to high pH beef resulted in a more well-done color […]

   • 2006, in The Meat Buyers Guide: Beef, Lamb, Veal, Pork, and Poultry (produced by the North American Meat Processors Association), page 29:

     When specified by the purchaser, lean finely textured beef may be combined with boneless beef meeting the above material requirements […]

   • 2012 March 28, Jon Stewart, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Comedy Central:

     So now the world is aware that "lean finely textured beef" is actually an alias for "ammonia-soaked centrifuge-separated byproduct paste".

Usage notes

This name is often used by manufacturers, as it connotes that the product is traditional beef and not a chemically-processed meat substitute, which is the connotation of "pink slime", the term many critics of the product use. Often written "lean, finely textured beef".

Synonyms

• (meat byproduct): soylent pink, pink slime, boneless lean beef trimmings (BLBT)