INDUSTRY AD CAMPAIGN GIVES BEEF SAFETY MESSAGE

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 29, 1997 -- "What are you going to eat in the next millennium? The answer? Beef. It's what you want for quality, safety, nutrition and taste," says Charles Holmes, a cattle producer from Marion, Ala. The Holmes family is featured in the latest checkoff-funded beef industry image advertisement sponsored by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, which in September began running nationally in the Washington Post and the New York Times.

   The advertisement uses a proactive safety message to show cattle producers' commitment to safety and emphasizes the industry's producer-driven Beef Quality Assurance program, which combines insights from scientists, veterinarians, government and cattlemen to make sure beef is the highest quality possible.

   "Everybody's got to do their part in ensuring that food is safe. We take that responsibility seriously on the farm," Holmes says. "Cattlemen pool their resources to invest millions of dollars for research into new systems and technologies to cut the risk of food contamination."

   The advertisement also highlights the industry's willingness to respond to consumer concerns with development of new products to enhance convenience and taste, such as a pot roast that can be cooked in seven minutes and tastes great.

   The launch of the industry ad campaign coincided with the "Happy Beef Day Party" held recently in Washington, D.C. to commemorate NCBA's 100th anniversary and celebrate beef's enduring status as consumers' number-one meat choice.

   Initiated in 1898, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association is the marketing organization and trade association for America's one million cattle farmers and ranchers. With offices in Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C., NCBA is a consumer-focused, producer-directed organization representing the largest segment of the nation's food and fiber industry.