McDonald’s Contributes To BSE Research
DENVER Colo. Cattlemen
have answered a challenge grant
for Bovine Spongiform Encepha
lopathy (BSE) research from the
McDonald’s Corp. with a
$600,000 investment of their own.
The McDonald’s Corp. on Dec.
13 announced that it had award
ed a $500,000 challenge grant to
the National Cattlemen’s Foun
dation for BSE research.
The Foundation is an indepen
dent charitable research and edu
cation organization. It is the pri
mary contractor with the
Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB)
for checkoff-funded research
conducted on its behalf by the
Consumers Remain Confident
That U.S. Beef Is Safe
DENVER, Colo. Consumer
confidence that U.S. beef is safe
from ‘mad cow disease’ (Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy,
BSE) rose to a record high 89
percent in December, while con
sumer awareness of BSE in the
United States has dropped over
the last six months, according to
recent checkoff-funded research
on behalf of the Cattlemen’s Beef
Board.
A previous survey found that
in July 2001 nearly nine of 10 re
spondents had heard something
about ‘mad cow disease’ in the
previous month. In December
that figure had dropped to 70
percent but was still higher
than the 58 percent awareness
measured in December 2000.
Despite a higher awareness of
BSE than a year ago, the number
of respondents who said they
were confident that U.S. beef is
safe rose from 82 percent in De
cember 2000 to the current level
of 89 percent.
“The beef industry and the
U.S. government have been
working since the late 1980 s to
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National Cattlemen’s Beef Asso
ciation (NCBA). The Foundation
will work with the NCSA’s Re
search and Technical Services
staff on the research.
Cattlemen across the country,
through their sl-per-head check
off, pledged $600,000 to the BSE
research effort. The Beef Promo
tion Operating Committee, an in
dependent group consisting of
ten members from the CBB and
ten members from the Federation
of State Beef Councils, approved
the allocation during its Dec.
12-13 meeting in Las Vegas. The
Operating Committee approves
all beef checkoff proposals and
ensure the BSE never becomes a
problem in this country,” said
Rick McCarty, NCBA executive
director of issues management
who oversees the BSE tracking
survey program.
“The triple firewalls of import
bans, active surveillance and the
ban on feeding ruminant-derived
protein supplements to rumi
nants have been effective in pre
venting BSE problems in the U.S.
A comprehensive, three-year
risk analysis study by Harvard
University recently confirmed the
effectiveness of our prevention
and risk management pro
grams.”
McCarty also pointed out that
the beef industry has maintained
an aggressive risk communica
tions program about BSE since
1996. “We’ve been conducting
these attitude tracking surveys
since the spring of 1996,” he said,
“and consumer confidence in the
safety of U.S. beef has always re
mained high.
This high confidence has been
supported by the
industry’s BSE
expenditures for work conducted
on behalf of the CBB.
“Food safety is everyone’s
business,” said Ken Koziol, as
sistant vice president of McDon
ald’s World-Wide Quality Assur
ance. “We have the world’s safest
food supply here in the U.S. and
these grants are designed to help
keep it that way. Funding the
best and the brightest in our in
dustry is not only worthwhile, it
is the right thing to do on behalf
of the consumer.”
“While a recent report from
Harvard said the United States
was at low risk for a BSE out
break, cattlemen and allied in
dustries must move to strengthen
tions efforts. This past year, con
sumers heard an awful lot in the
media about ‘mad cow disease’,”
he added, ‘‘but much of what
they heard were our messages
about the triple firewalls and the
fact that we don’t have this dis
ease in the U.S.”
The independent study was
conducted by the research firm
IPSOS-Reid U.S. Public Affairs
and coordinated for the Cattle
men’s Beef Board by the Nation
al Cattlemen’s Beef Association
(NCSA). The study used a na
tional random sample of U.S.
adults and has a margin of error
of plus or minus 3 percentage
points.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing
Service purchased 4,988,000
pounds of frozen ground beef
products Dec. 19 at a cost of ap
proximately $6,978,000. These
products are for use in federal
communica-
AMS’ Ground Beef Purchases
Total More Than $145 Million
the proven firewalls,” said Foun
dation President Don Butler.
“This grant is important for re
search initiatives that continue to
keep America BSE free.”
The Foundation now will ask
other companies and foundations
to participate in research efforts
into this disease, about which
little is known. However, this
much is known: BSE outbreaks
in Europe have decimated their
beef industry. Beef consumption
in Japan, the top export market
for U.S. beef, plunged after re
ports of BSE there.
In October, a committee of 25
representatives of the U.S. beef
industry from producers to re
searchers met to continue identi
fying voids in BSE research and
develop BSE research priorities.
The BSE Working Group’s five
topic areas consisted of basic re
search, diagnostics, “Beef Quality
Assurance” Best Management
Practices, eradication and ren
dering technologies.
“Research and education these
are why the Foundation exists,”
Butler said. “As an independent
charitable group, we can pursue
funding for vital projects like this
that further food safety, and pro
tect consumers and the cattle and
beef industries.
“We hope other companies
and allied industries contribute
so we can better learn how to
guard against the introduction of
BSE or just wipe it out complete
ly. This effort requires a coordi
nated research response and
we’re glad to help take the lead.”
food and nutrition programs.
Purchases of frozen beef prod
ucts since the program was an
nounced June 29 total
104,170,000 pounds at a cost of
$145,179,000.
Details of beef purchases Dec.
19 follow: Fine Ground:
4,000,000 lbs.; $1.3190-1.4815 per
lb from 6 of 9 bidders. VPP Pat
ties: 722,000 lbs; $1.1744-1.2663
per lb from 4 of 4 bidders; 100%
Beef Patties: 152,000 lbs;
$1.4016-1.43.40 per lb from 2 of 4
bidders; Lean Patties: 114,000 lbs;
$1.7262-1.77585 per lb from 1 of
1 bidder.
Awards made today to be
shipped between Feb. 1 and 15
follow:
BEEF, FROZEN FINE
GROUND, 40 lb ctn.: American
Foods Group, Green Bay, Wis. -
440,000 lbs.; Fort Worth Foods,
Fort Worth, Tex. - 360,000 lbs.;
Palo Duro Meat Processing, Am
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 19,2002-A35
N.C. Hog/
Pig Inventory
Down 3 Percent
From Sept. 1
RALEIGH, N.C. All hogs
and pigs on North Carolina
farms on December 1,2001 total
ed 9.5 million head, 3 percent
below the September 1, 2001, in
ventory, but 2 percent above the
level at this time last year,
according to the North Carolina
Agricultural Statistics Service
(NCASS).
The inventory consisted of 2
percent more market hogs than
last December, totaling 8.5 mil
lion head. Breeding stock, at 1
million head, was unchanged
from the previous year.
North Carolina ranks second
nationally in the number of hogs
and pigs, behind lowa’s 15 mil
lion head. Minnesota is a distant
third with 5.6 million head inven
tory.
The state’s pig crop during the
September-November 2001 peri
od totaled 4,744,000 head, 1 per
cent above the same months last
year. These pigs were produced
by 530,000 sows, no change from
last year. Pigs saved per litter av
eraged 8.95 compared to last
year’s 8.85 litter rate.
North Carolina producers in
tend to farrow 530,000 sows from
December 2001-February 2002
and 550,000 during March-May
2002. If these intentions material
ize, farrowings will be unchanged
and up 2 percent, respectively,
for the same periods last year.
arillo, Tex. - 480,000 lbs.; Skylark
Meats Inc., Omaha, Neb. -
720,000 lbs.; Sterling Pacific Meat
Co., Commerce, Calif.- 920,000
lbs.; and Taylor Packing Co.,
Inc., Wyalusing, Pa. - 1,080,000
lbs.
FROZEN BEEF
PATTIES,W/VPP, 40 lb ctn.;
American Foodservice Corp.,
Fort Worth, Tex. - 114,000 lbs.;
American Foodservice Corp.,
King of Prussia, Pa. - 38,000 lbs.;
Cherry Meat Packers, Inc., Chi
cago, 111., - 418,000 lbs.; and
Qualipaq Meats, Inc., Swoyer
sville, Pa. -152,000 lbs.
FROZEN BEEF PATTIES,
100% BEEF, 40 lb ctn.: Cherry
Meat Packers, Inc., Chicago, 111. -
76,000 lbs.; and Qualipaq Meats,
Inc., Swoyersville, Pa. - 76,000
lbs.
FROZEN BEEF PATTIES,
LEAN, 40 lb ctn.: Cherry Meat
Packers, Inc., Chicago, 111. -
144,000 lbs.
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