SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – Governors and lieutenant governors from at least four states are planning to tour the lone remaining Beef Products Inc. plant in operation as a sign of support for the company.

Beef Products Inc. announced Monday that it was suspending operations at three of its four plants around the country amid a public outcry over concerns about the low-cost beef filler that has become known as “pink slime.”

Company spokesman Rich Jochum says the governor or lieutenant governor from Iowa, Texas, South Dakota and Nebraska will tour the South Sioux City, Neb., plant Thursday ahead of a scheduled news conference.

The “lean, finely textured beef” has been used for years but recently became a target of activists seeking to have it banned.