 In March 2012 , an ABC News series about " pink slime " included claims that approximately 70 percent of ground beef sold in U.S. supermarkets contained the additive at that time . Some companies and organizations stopped offering ground beef with the product . " Pink slime " was claimed by some originally to have been used as pet food and cooking oil and later approved for public consumption , but this was disputed in April 2012 , by both the Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) administrator responsible for approving the product and Beef Products , Inc . ( BPI ) , the largest U.S. producer of the additive . In September 2012 BPI filed a lawsuit against American Broadcasting Company for false claims about the product . 
