 Most of the finely textured beef is produced and sold by BPI , Cargill and Tyson Foods . As of March 2012 there was no labeling of the product , and only a USDA Organic label would have indicated that beef contained no " pink slime " . Per BPI , the finished product is 94 to 97 percent lean beef ( with a fat content of 3 – 6 percent ) has a nutritional value comparable to 90 percent lean ground beef , is very high in protein , low in fat , and contains iron , zinc and B vitamins . U.S. beef that contains up to 15 percent of the product can be labeled as " 100 % ground beef " . Up to 2005 , filler could make up to 25 percent of ground meat . In an Associated Press review , food editor and cookbook author J.M. Hirsh compared the taste of LFTB @-@ containing hamburgers against traditional , or " real " , hamburgers . He described the LFTB @-@ containing burgers as smelling the same , but being less juicy and highly mealy with bits and studs of cartilage @-@ like matter . 
