WASHINGTON – Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) recently introduced a bill that would require products containing lean, finely textured beef to be labeled at the point of sale.

The Requiring Easy and Accurate Labeling of Beef Act (REAL Beef Act) has 10 co-sponsors. US Rep. Pingree said the bill addresses the issues of choice and transparency and that consumers want to choose whether or not to eat products that contain LFTB.

"Consumers have made it pretty clear they don't want this stuff in their food," Pingree said in a press release. "If a product contains connective tissue and beef scraps and has been treated with ammonia, you ought to be able to know that when you pick it up in the grocery store."

The US Department of Agriculture said it would allow school districts to opt out of serving ground beef that contains LFTB, and the Hy-Vee grocery chain said stores would use signs to identify products containing LFTB and include them in meat cases along with beef that does not include LFTB.