Beef Nutrient Backgrounder Kit Updated To Reflect Latest Findings

DENVER (Dec. 1, 2004) – “Beef Nutrients That Work as Hard as You Do,” a widely referenced kit containing fact sheets on the benefits of beef’s nutrient bundle, has been updated with the latest nutritional research.  Developed by health professionals with the support of beef checkoff dollars, the updated kit is a comprehensive summary of the latest scientific evidence about beef and its key nutrients.

This project was conducted on behalf of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef councils by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).  The NCBA serves as one of the Beef Board’s contractors for checkoff-funded programs.

Topics covered in the kit include:

• The Importance of Diet Quality and Variety to Good Nutrition
• Consuming Beef Improves Overall Nutritional Quality of the Diet
• Protein: Quality and Questions
• Iron Deficiency: The Most Common Nutritional Deficiency in the United States
• Zinc Deficiency: An Overlooked Nutritional Problem
• B-Vitamins For Peak Performance
• The Misunderstood Fat Profile of Beef
• Emerging Health-Promoting Components in Beef

The new kit is designed for easy use by health professionals, who can utilize the topics relevant to a patient and client’s specific dietary concerns.  It is also a useful reference tool for media covering health and nutrition issues.

This edition includes updated information on the 2004 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Report. It also discusses recent research on the effectiveness of moderately high-protein diets for weight loss, the importance of dietary protein to bone health, the beneficial role of iron status and zinc intake in cognitive development, maintaining iron status in the diet of adolescents, the role of vitamin B-12 intake in heart health and cognitive functioning, and the role of choline in memory function and fetal brain development

“The beef nutrient backgrounder was developed by health professionals for health professionals,” said Cattlemen’s Beef Board member Wade Zimmerman, a producer from Sugar City, Colo. and chairman of the beef industry’s Joint Nutrition and Health Committee. “It’s important that we make the public aware of the nutritional value of beef in a healthy diet.”

“Beef Nutrients That Work as Hard as You Do” will be distributed in early 2005 to health media and industry spokespersons. Through the Nutrient Seminar Program, it will also be made available to dietitians and other health professionals. 

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The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval. The checkoff assessment became mandatory when the program was approved by 79 percent of producers in a 1988 national referendum vote. Checkoff revenues may be used for promotion, education and research programs to improve the marketing climate for beef.

Producer-directed and consumer-focused, NCBA is the trade association of America’s cattle farmers and ranchers, and the marketing organization for the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry.