Beef producers anxious over "pink slime" deadline

May 16—Beef Products Inc. is waiting with bated breath this week as it struggles to recover from the uproar over its lean beef trimmings.

By Monday, U.S. schools had to finalize their ground beef purchases with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which supplies bulk commodities to districts enrolled in the National School Lunch Program. Two months ago, in the midst of the raging "pink slime" controversy, the USDA said it would allow local schools to opt-out of accepting beef containing BPI's signature product, officially known as Lean Finely Textured Beef.