Meat + Poultry - April 2005 - 12

Business Notes
U.S.D.A. invests in additional B.S.E. research
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns
announced that almost $2 million in
funding has been redirected to enhance research on bovine spongiform
encephalopathy and that $5 million
has been awarded to 17 colleges and
universities to establish a Food Safety
Research and Response Network.
"In a rapidly changing world marketplace, science is the universal
language that must guide our rules
and policies, rather than subjectivity
or politics," said Johanns. "Expanding our research efforts to improve
the understanding of B.S.E. and other
food-related illness pathogens will
strengthen the security of our nation's
food supply. These projects will help
improve food safety by enhancing
our research partnerships with the
academic community and establish
another tool to aid our response to
food-related disease outbreaks."
Johanns made the announcement
during keynote remarks at the Food
Safety Summit, held this past month in
Washington, D.C. The B.S.E. research
funds, redirected by the U.S. Dept. of
Agriculture's Agricultural Research
Service, will be used for new B.S.E.
projects and facilities.
The newly funded projects include
international collaborations with the
Veterinary Laboratory Agency in
Great Britain to study the biology of
the B.S.E. agent, the Italian B.S.E.
Reference Laboratory to evaluate
present diagnostic tools for detecting
atypical B.S.E. cases and the Univ. of
Santiago de Compostela in Spain to
compare North American and European B.S.E. strains.
About $750,000 will go toward a
bio-containment facility now under
construction at the A.R.S. National
Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa.
These facilities will eventually allow
the long-term study of B.S.E. infection
in cattle and other large animals, which
can take a decade or more.
The Food Safety Research and

MEAT&POULTRY

April 2005

Response Network, spearheaded by
North Carolina State Univ., will include a team of more than 50 food
safety experts from 18 colleges and
universities who will investigate
several of the most prevalent foodrelated illness pathogens. Pathogens
like E. coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter will be studied to determine
where they are found in the environment, how they are sustained and
how they infect herds. This team of

researchers brings a broad range of
expertise to tackle these persistent
research challenges.
The group also will serve as a response team that can be mobilized to
conduct focused research to control
major episodes of food-related illnesses. Episodes could include investigation of health problems associated
with agricultural bioterrorism and the
deliberate contamination of agricultural commodities.

Rich Products acquires Battistoni
Rich Products, Inc., Buffalo, N.Y., has acquired Battistoni Italian Specialty Meats, also located in Buffalo.
The Battistoni product line will become part of the RichSeaPak Group, one of Rich's business units. Terms of the
transaction were not disclosed.
Battistoni produces dry-cured, prepackaged Capocollo
and salami meat products. They are one of approximately 20 companies producing the niche products in the
United States.

Meat consumption continues to climb
The average per capita consumption of meat and poultry combined will be a
record high, according to forecast data issued by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. In 2005, meat and poultry consumption
is expected to reach 225.2 pounds per person, 3.8 pounds more than the
221.4 pounds in 2004, and 6.3 pounds more than the 218.9 pounds in 2003.
Per-person consumption totaled 207.7 pounds in 1995.
Within the overall meat and poultry category, chicken consumption has
continued to increase from 76.6 pounds in 2001 to an expected 86.2 pounds
this year, or 38.3 percent of total meat and poultry consumption. This past
year, chicken consumption was 84.3 pounds per person and 81.6 pounds in
2003. In 2001, chicken consumption slipped to 76.7 pounds compared with
76.9 pounds in 2000.
Pork consumption has been relatively steady since 2002, averaging
51 to 51.8 pounds per person during this time period. Beef consumption
decreased to 64.9 pounds in 2003, but with export difficulties, domestic
consumption has turned slightly upward in 2004 to 66.1 pounds and an estimated 68 pounds in 2005.
Agriculture officials see steady increases in meat and poultry consumption with a forecast of 233 pounds in 2010, according to the latest
agricultural baseline projection report. Within the 233 pounds in 2010, the
department predicts chicken consumption to be 93.4 pounds per person or
40 percent of total meat consumption.

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Meat + Poultry - April 2005

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