Preference evaluation of ground beef by untrained subjects with three levels of finely textured beef.

After receiving bad publicity in 2012 and being removed from many ground beef products, finely textured beef (referred to as 'pink slime' by some) is making a comeback. Some of its proponents argue that consumers prefer ground beef containing finely textured beef, but no objective scientific party has tested this claim-that is the purpose of the present study. Over 200 untrained subjects participated in a sensory analysis in which they tasted one ground beef sample with no finely textured beef, another with 15% finely textured beef (by weight), and another with more than 15%.