products were reportedly used in 75% of the United States' hamburger patties in 2008. The School Lunch Program, another large buyer of Beef Product's goods, used about 5.5 million pounds in 2009. Product Beef Products Inc. is the creator of a product called "lean finely textured beef," also known as "pink slime." The latter term was first used in 2002 by a Food Safety Inspection Service worker. In 2002, it patented a process that turns materials that had previously gone for pet food or oil into products for human consumption. In this process, beef trimmings are warmed, put through a centrifuge to remove fat, then treated with ammonia to increase pH and kill bacteria. The product is found as a lean meat source which has been added to ground beef, constituting up to 25 percent of the final product. This process is approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration. Carol Tucker Foreman, director of the Food Safety Institute for the Consumer Federation of America, and Nancy Donley, president of the industry-funded group Safe Tables Our Priority, are strong backers of this technology-based approach to food safety. Journalists, however, have questioned the safety of meat treated with the process. References External links 1981 establishments in Texas Meat companies of the United States Food and drink companies established in 1981 Meat industry