812-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 6, 2001
Retail Grocery Prices Drop Slightly In Fourth Quarter Survey
PARK RIDGE, 111. Ameri
can consumers enjoyed a slight
decrease in retail prices at the su
permarket during the fourth
quarter of 2000, according to the
American Farm Bureau Federa
tion’s (AFBF’s) Marketbasket
Survey.
The latest informal survey
shows a 12-cent decrease in 16
selected grocery items from this
year’s third quarter.
Shoppers paid $33.48 for the
16 items during the fourth quar
ter. That was a drop from last
quarter’s $33.60, which marked
the highest average since the sur
vey’s inception in 1989. This
quarter’s average is just $4.98
higher than the inaugural aver
age of $28.50, recorded the first
quarter of 1989.
The total average recorded for
this year’s fourth quarter report
was 26 cents higher than the re
port for the fourth quarter of
1999 ($33.22).
Of the 16 items on the survey,
nine fell in price. A 32-ounce bot
tle of corn oil experienced the
largest decrease, falling 22 cents
to $2.14. Other decreases in
cluded a 5-pound bag of flour,
#
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$1.24, down 16 cents; bacon,
$2.62, down 15 cents a pound;
vegetable oil, $2.04 per 32-ounce
jar, down 12 cents; mayonnaise,
$2.86, down 4 cents per 32-ounce
jar; ground chuck, $1.86, down 4
cents per pound; cereal, $2.84
per 10-ounce box, down 3 cents;
white bread, $1.16 per 20-ounce
loaf, down 3 cents; and apples,
91 cents a pound, down 2 cents.
Seven items on the survey in
creased in price, led by a pound
of Cheddar cheese, which in
creased 26 cents to $3.41. Other
increases included sirloin, $2.80
per pound, up IS cents; pork
chops, $3.18 per pound, up 13
cents; a dozen eggs, $1.04, up 7
cents; whole fryers, $1.02 per
pound, up 5 cents; whole milk,
$2.74 per gallon, up 2 cents; and
potatoes, $1.62 per 5-pound bag,
up 1 cent.
AFBF, the nation’s largest
farm organization, conducts its
informal quarterly Marketbasket
Survey to help track retail food
price trends to ensure they are in
line with prices received by the
nation’s farmers and ranchers.
While retail grocery store prices
have increased for the most part
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during the past year, the farm- spent in the U.S. is approxi- Volunteer shoppers from 32
ers’ and ranchers’ share has ac- mately 20 cents. Off-farm labor states p artic ipated in this latest
tually dropped. According to the at 39 cents is the largest compo-
Agriculture Department, the nent of the consumers’ food dol- survey, conducted in mid-No
farm value of each food dollar lar
No Mad Cows Here
How can we be sure “mad cow
disease” isn’t in the United
States?
Mad cow disease, or bovine
spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE), gets a lot of press because
there are so many unknowns
about how it spreads, and be
cause of the devastating effects of
its human form, a form of
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The
fatal neurological disease is often
painful, and often includes delu
sions or hallucinations as part of
its development.
Classical Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease (CJD) occurs at a rate of
1 or 2 cases per million people
throughout the world, including
the United States. However, in
1997, a new variant of CJD
(vC JD) was found to be the same
strain as BSE, and it’s affecting
much younger people than classi
cal CJD. It’s believed that people
contracted this new variant by
eating meat from BSE-infected
animals.
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Related diseases, such as scra
pie in sheep and goats, appear to
come from different strains of the
protease-resistant protein, or
“prion” the agent responsible
for the disease. Scientists are un
sure about the exact nature of the
prion, but it’s very small and
heat-resistant.
The vast majority of cases of
vCJD have occurred in Great
Britain, where more than 80 peo
ple have died from the disease.
Most BSE cases have also oc
curred in Great Britain, where
more than 175,000 head of cattle
were diagnosed from late 1986
through mid-1999. At its peak in
January 1993, almost 1,000 new
cases were reported weekly.
Today, only about 60 new cases
are reported weekly.
No cases of BSE or vC JD have
ever been identified in the United
States, but it’s not because we’re
not looking. In fact, scientists
from the U.S. Department of Ag
riculture’s Animal and Plant
Transmission.
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Health Inspection Service rou
tinely examine animals at high
risk for the disease those with
neurologic conditions seen at
food processing plants and veter
inary diagnostic laboratories. The
brains of about 10,000 cows have
been tested since 1990, and none
have tested positive for BSE.
Besides this and other surveil
lance efforts, the United States
has banned the importation of
any live ruminants (cows, sheep,
goats and some other exotic ani
mals) and their tissues from any
country with confirmed cases of
BSE. Also, in 1997 the govern
ment prohibited the use of by
products made from ruminants
from being used in any ruminant
feed. (It’s believed British cattle
got BSE by eating feed with ren
dered protein that was infected.)
More information on BSE can
be found at the following website:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/
bse/.
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