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DES MOINES, IOWA -- The debate over the beef product referred to as "pink slime" continues.

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack say they are launching a campaign against "misinformation" about the product.

Speaking Wednesday at an Iowa Statehouse news conference, the two argued a product they referred to as "lean, finely textured beef" is safe, nutritious and low in fat.

Secretary Vilsack says the USDA would not allow it to be sold if the product was not safe.

Besides holding the news conference, Branstad will join with other governors Thursday to tour a Beef Products Inc. plant in South Sioux City, Nebraska; where the product is produced.

An uproar about the product prompted Beef Products to suspend operations at plants in Amarillo, Texas, Garden City, Kansas and Waterloo, Iowa.

Branstad says he'll eat some of the meat to demonstrate it's safe.

Hy-Vee says some customers were unhappy with the grocery chain's decision not to sell ground beef with the ingredient, so the company now plans to offer beef with and without it.

Hy-Vee spokeswoman Ruth Comer said Wednesday the chain heard complaints from consumers in communities where pink slime is made, such as South Sioux City, Nebraska.

Hy-Vee announced last week that it planned to stop offering beef at its 235 stores with "pink slime."

The term pink slime was coined by a federal microbiologist grossed out by it.

Federal regulators say the product meets food safety standards, but critics say it's an unappetizing example of industrialized food production.

The Associated Press Contributed to this article