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Research

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According to the Beef Act, research means studies relative to the effectiveness of market development and promotion efforts, studies relating to the nutritional value of beef and beef products, other related food science research including beef safety and pathogen research, product-enhancement research, market research and new product development research. Checkoff-funded research aims to maintain and increase consumer confidence in beef and beef products and provides the basis for development of program focus in all areas of checkoff investment by measuring market demands and tracking the state of the industry. The checkoff cannot fund cattle production research. 

Beef’s Contribution To Healthy Diets

New checkoff-funded research highlights the importance of lean beef’s nutrient contribution to the American diet. Results show that while beef only contributes 5 percent or less of total calories, it provides more than 5 percent of seven essential nutrients – protein, niacin, vitamin B (B6 and B12), phosphorous, iron, zinc and potassium. Mean total beef intake at 1.7 ounces or less per day was well within current government guidelines . And of the total beef consumed in the American diet, more than 90 percent (1.6 ounces) was lean – containing less than 8 grams of fat per 3 1/2-ounce cooked serving. Beef checkoff funds were leveraged with USDA Agriculture Research funding to complete this research. For more on nutrition research, visit Beef Nutrition.

Research Publications Online

New checkoff-funded publications now available on www.beefresearch.org include a revised version of the Beef Cutout Calculator, an interactive Web-based tool that allows users to view yields for selected carcass components and current USDA-reported values. A second white paper, Beef from Market Cows, addresses changes in the production of market-cow products. And in the area of Beef Safety Research, you’ll find four new fact sheets designed to educate cattle producers on pre-harvest safety issues: Overview of Pre-Harvest Safety Interventions; Advancing the Pre-Harvest Commitment; A Basic Look at Salmonella; and A Basic Look at E. coli.  

For additional information, check out these sites:

Consumers looking for nutrition and dietary information about beef can go to www.beefnutrition.org to order or download materials and research information, or find a schedule of nutrition events and seminars, and.
 
Consumers, producers and other industry professionals can go to www.beefresearch.org for summaries of checkoff-funded research in the areas of beef safety, human nutrition, product enhancement and market research, projects which provide the foundation for checkoff programs in promotion, marketing, education, information and foreign marketing.
 
Safety is a priority of the beef industry and www.bifsco.org,  houses information about the Beef Industry Food Safety Council (BIFSCo), its discussions and meetings, an application to join the council, and consumer information about beef safety.
 
Finding new convenient cuts is one very successful way the checkoff has helped add value to the beef carcass over the years. In cooperation with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, http://bovine.unl.edu/ is the industry’s primary beef cut resource.
 
Checkoff-funded Beef Quality Assurance program information is available at www.bqa.org where you can find systematic information about coupling proper animal-husbandry techniques with accepted scientific knowledge to improve the quality of the end beef products.
 
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is a misunderstood but potentially serious animal disease. For the most accurate information, turn to www.bseinfo.org, an informational site housing current information regarding for consumers, producers and beef industry representatives.
 
While never occurring in the United States, www.fmdinfo.org is an informational site housing current information regarding foot-and-mouth disease for consumers, producers and beef industry representatives.


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