We asked three top grocery chains whether or not their ground beef contains "pink slime"

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) - Ever since the news about pink slime broke, meat counters across metro Detroit have been flooded with questions. 7 Action News asked Kroger, Meijer, and Hiller’s Market what you have been wanting to know; does their ground meat contain that lean finely textured ground beef? 

Hiller’s Market owner Jim Hiller said their ground meat does not contain "pink slime" and never has.

“We grind all of our own beef.  We grind what we sell so there is of course, no reason to add ammonia to it because we know precisely what we’re grinding,” said Jim Hiller.

They even have explanations for customers inside their stores and on the Facebook page.  While Hiller says they do not use the filler product, he understands why someone forced to buy hundreds of thousands of pounds of ground beef, like a school lunch program, may use the treated meat for safety reasons.

 “Despite the fact that it sounds repulsive, it does reduce the likelihood of some pretty serious passages in the meat,” said Hiller.

When we asked Kroger, the nation’s number one grocer, the spokesperson told me they carry beef with and without it.

“We offer both type of ground beef or sale.  With and without the lean finely textured …all of our meat is FDA approved for food safety and quality,” said spokesperson Dale Hollandsworth.

Hollandsworth said all you have to do is ask at the meat counter. So, I walked into a local Kroger store and did just that. 

Sure enough the employee at the meat counter was able to tell me that their ground meat did not contain pink slime and that none of their ground meat contained "pink slime" at their location.

Meijer issued this statement to 7 Action News:

"Most of the types of ground beef that we sell is fresh and does not contain it.  If a customer asks a Meijer meat associate they can tell you if it does or not." –Frank Guglielmi, Meijer Spokesperson

 The USDA and food experts have said that the ammonia treated filler meat is safe and wholesome.