Livestock Notes I (Continued from Pago D 3) safety: “Even the best production and processing practices do not eliminate these organisms from raw meat." In the executive summary of its new report, USDA said, “The use of cooking procedures, together with sanitary handling, proper refrigeration or freezing, and strict separation of cooked products form raw products from the time of cooking until the product is packaged for sale provided a high degree of confidence that the pro duct is safe.” Pork Residues Low William R. Henning Penn State Assoc. Prof. Animal Sciences Results of a study supported by the National Live Stock and Meat Board have bolstered earlier evi dence that U.S. pork is safe from chemical residues. Researchers sampled ham and pork sausage collected from supermarkets in three geographical regions, and subcutaneous adipose tissue from pork carcasses in slaughter plants representing 16 states. Samples were tested for 29 different chlori nated hydrocarbons, organopho sphate pesticides and their metabolites. Adipose tissue samples from pork carcasses, tested over a six month period to ensure absence of seasonal variations, showed no pesticide residue greater than the 0.05 ppm detection threshold. None of the ham contained detect able levels of organophosphates (greater than 0.003 ppm) or chlori nated hydrocarbons (greater than 0.02 ppm). Six of the 27 sausage samples contained trace amounts of organophosphates, but these levels of chemical residue were well below tolerances set by the \| \\ Construction Needs COS c^ ,sc : Agriculture - Residential - Commercial Buildings • Basement • Floors Retaining Walls • Footer SCS Approved Manure Storage Pits All Types Of Flat Work liwiiai In Concrete, Quality work That Will Laat A Llftnim* CALL FOR FREE ESTIMATES AND SEE HOW AFFORDABLE CONCRETE WALLS CAN BE PRECISE CONCRETE WALLS, INC. 601 Overly Grove Road. New Holland. PA 17557 FDA. No samples contained tran quilizer or drug residues at the 1 part per billion detection threshold. These results agree with test results of the National Residue Program by the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) of the USDA, which found zero viola tive levels of either chlorinated hydrocarbons or organopho sphates in the 740 market hogs sampled. Recommended Beef Grading Changes William R. Henning Penn State Assoc. Prof. Animal Sciences TWO MAJOR REVISIONS ARE REQUESTED: 1. Reduce all “B” maturity carcas ses with “Slight” and “Small” degrees of marbling to the “Stan dard” grade. 2. Implement yield-grade changes to separate the Y 2 and Y 3 grades into two grades each, and combine the Y 4 and Y 5 grades. Current Grading YGI = 8.6% Proposed Grading YGI = 8.6% Current Grading YG2 = 40.9% Proposed Grading YG2A = 16.0%; YG2B = 24.9% Current Grading YG3 = 39.9% Proposed Grading YG3A = 24.4%, YG3B = 15.5% Current Grading YG4 = 9.6%, combined with Y G 5 = 1.0% Proposed Grading YG4+ = 10.6% 13’ Diameter Circular Manure Storage The National Cattlemen’s .Association (NCA) recently 'passed a resolution to request ‘ changes in USDA beef grading standards, as reflected in the table to the left Changing the quality grading standards will require a rule change by the USDA, includ ing publication of the change in the Federal Register’followed by a comment period. The proposed changes could be more through a specification rather than a grade change. This would allow the proposal to be adopted faster and without a hearing and review process. The maturity grade “B” is the physiological designation for car casses of cattle from 30 to 42 months of chronological age. Var iability in tenderness is the prim ary problem with inconsistency in all quality grades of beef, and the current grading system does not adequately measure this variabili ty. Research data demonstrate that carcasses of "B” maturity, which are currently eligible for the “Choice” and “Select” grades, are more variable in tenderness than are “A” maturity carcasses of the same grade. This change will not affect a large number of carcasses in the current supply, but will discour age the industry from marketing older maturity cattle as “Choice” or “Select” Most of the cattle cur rently in this category are the “heiferettes,” or first-calf heifers, which are weaned early and placed on feed, or cattle which have been backgrounded on forage. Packers have begun to question the relevance of the maturity '■>ll< ■! I, ill. III! ‘h Manure Storage k "UK 1 'I i''. ■ I, it |;M 1 || In i i ’ 11. 1> >i AlliiVl I.MIIHH CONTACT ROT SBNSENIG 717-355-0726 scores to the actual age of the cattle. Some have complained that loads of young cattle are some times grading as “C” maturity (over 42 months of age) when it is known they are less than 20 months. One such experience occurred when a purebred heifer that was slaughtered was “C” maturity, yet less than 24 months of age. This raises the question, that there may be nutritional or physiological factors which dra matically accelerate the ossifica tion process. While such observations may be aberrations, they point out the subjective nature of quality grad ing. In my travels through beef plants across the country, the most subjective and variable designa tion is the estimation of maturity. Graders tend to be tougher on maturity in plants here in the East, especially those with a significant cow slaughter. The graders are expecting cows and tend to be less lenient than on similar carcasses at an all-steer plant. I guess we have to accept that as the human factor. Does that grading change affect one area or type of cattle more than another? I don’t think anyone knows the answer to that yet The NCA Task Force found yield grading to be an accurate and adequate method of identifying differences in cutability. Howev er, as the industry moves toward closely trimmed boxed beef, and cutability receives greater empha sis for cattle, the current yield grades are viewed as too broad to allow for effective evaluation. The proposal calls for Y 2 to be split into two grades; 2A, from 2.0 ¥Let Your Crops Dine On Alpine The Company That Offer* You High Quality Plant Food At Competitive Prices Talk To Us About Seed Banded Plant Food And Foliar Feeding Place Phosphorus Where It Does Most Good (Seed Banded) 6-24-6 9-18-9 3-18-18 5-IS-15 Check Early Order & Quantity Price Zimmerman Lime & Fertilizer, Inc. (717) 733-7674 235 W. Burkholder Dr. Lititz. PA 17543 Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 23, 1994-05 to 2.49, and 2B from 2.50 to 2.99. Yield Grade 3 would be similarly split; 3A from 3,0 to 3.49, and 3B from 3.50 to 3.99. Yield Grade 5 would be dropped, and Yield Grade 4 would be open-ended. The current and proposed yield grade distributions arc shown in the table to the left. The NCA Task Force also recommends that very high indus try priority be given to the deve lopment and application of an instrument grading procedure that rapidly measures tenderness at typical chain speeds in modem packing plants. U.S. Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA) sent a letter to Agricul ture Secretary Mike Espy calling on USDA to expedite a petition to the Food and Drug Administration for approval of irradiation for beef. “I believe that irradiation, if approved for beef, will provide an important tool in the reform of our nation’s food safety system,” Gor ton told Espy. Gorton’s letter followed the death last month of a three-year old boy who contracted hemolytic uremic syndrome after he con sumed E. coli Q157;H7, presu mably from a hamburger he had eaten. Call For Irradiation William R. Henning Penn State Assoc. Prof. Animal Science (Turn to Page 06)
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