McDonald’s Contributes To BSE Research

DENVER (December 21, 2001) -- Cattlemen have answered a challenge grant for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (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 awarded a $500,000 challenge grant to the National Cattlemen’s Foundation for BSE research.

 The Foundation is an independent charitable research and education organization. It is the primary contractor with the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) for checkoff-funded research conducted on its behalf by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). The Foundation will work with the NCBA’s Research and Technical Services staff on the research. 

Cattlemen across the country, through their $1-per-head checkoff, pledged $600,000 to the BSE research effort. The Beef Promotion Operating Committee, an independent 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 expenditures for work conducted on behalf of the CBB.

 “Food safety is everyone`s business,” said Ken Koziol, assistant vice president of McDonald’s World-Wide Quality Assurance. “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 industry 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 outbreak, cattlemen and allied industries must move to strengthen the proven firewalls,” said Foundation President Don Butler. “This grant is important for research 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 reports of BSE there. 

In October, a committee of 25 representatives of the U.S. beef industry — from producers to researchers — met to continue identifying voids in BSE research and develop BSE research priorities. The BSE Working Group’s five topic areas consisted of basic research, diagnostics, “Beef Quality Assurance” Best Management Practices, eradication and rendering 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 protect 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 completely. This effort requires a coordinated research response and we’re glad to help take the lead.”

The National Cattlemen`s Foundation serves the beef industry as a charitable institution whose mission is to preserve the rich heritage and promote the future of the industry through research and education.

 The CBB is a 110-member board appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to oversee the collection of the $1-per-head checkoff, certify state beef councils, implement the provisions of the federal order establishing the checkoff and evaluate the effectiveness of checkoff programs. 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.

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Producer-directed and consumer-focused, the National Cattlemen`s Beef Association 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.