A South Dakota beef company says it plans to close processing plants in three states because of the controversy surrounding a product that critics have dubbed "pink slime."
Beef Products Inc. spokesman Rich Jochum said Monday that 650 jobs will be lost when it closes its plants in Amarillo, Texas; Garden City, Kansas; and Waterloo Iowa.
The closures will be effective May 25.
A plant in South Sioux City, Neb., will remain open.
The company blames what it calls unfounded attacks over a product that it calls "lean, finely textured beef."
In the process, bits of beef are heated and treated with a small amount of ammonia.
Beef Products is based in Dakota Dunes, S.D.
