NATIONAL MEAT
ASSOCIATION h 1970
Broadway, Suite 825, Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 763-1533 Fax (510) 763-6186 h Email Address: [email protected] h http://www.nmaonline.org
Edited by Kiran Kernellu
March 17, 2003
BURDEN OF PROOF IN OAKLAND!
Nine jurors have arrived daily in federal district court in Oakland, CA for the last two weeks to hear the case of Veal Connection Corp. v. Roy Thompson, et al, a “civil” trial seeking damages from four USDA officials in what is known as a Bivens action arising out of the 1996 withdrawal of inspection at Velasam Corp. Concurrently, Federal District Judge Claudia Wilkens is hearing testimony in a separate case, Velasam Corp v. USDA, which seeks damages from USDA. The plaintiff company, Velasam Corp., survived a 9-week closure in 1996, and was the subject of other USDA enforcement actions in 1995 and 1996. The company was formed, according to the testimony of its owners, Simon and Hannaka Samson, in 1983 and provides high quality meat specialty items for the food service and upscale retail markets.
It is rare that a company, which has been subjected to the level of enforcement activities directed to this small processor, emerges as a viable business form. The principals, Simon and his wife Hannaka, came from Holland, where Simon learned the meat trade through apprenticeship training and practical experience. He has testified that his most valuable asset is his honor and integrity, and his pursuit of this litigation is testament to his willingness to take every possible step, regardless of cost, to redeem that honor.
This litigation is being played out thousands of miles from Washington, where apparently at least some of the challenged regulatory decisions were made. The list of witnesses, including the four defendants, is impressive. Last week, in addition to hearing from the defendants (three of whom are current USDA officials, and one retired), the court heard testimony from Carol Seymour, retired Assistant Deputy Administrator for Enforcement; Richard Van Blargan, currently Deputy Administrator for PEER at FSIS; Dr. Craig Reid, former FSIS Deputy Administrator for Field Operations; Federal Judge Charles Breyer, who was Velasam’s attorney when the litigation started, prior to his appointment as a United States District Judge in San Francisco; Patricia Gay, an FSIS inspector in the field; and third party experts including Lou Gast of the HACCP Consulting Group; a representative of a San Francisco laboratory that took samples of product for testing; and a business economist who described the financial cost to the business of the USDA actions.
The trials resume today, with more witnesses scheduled to appear. Thousands of miles from Washington and outside the orbit of Beltway media, the primary focus of all this testimony is the nine jurors who are expected to hear final arguments early this week and then be charged to make their decision.
2003 NMA SCHOLARSHIP
APPLICATIONS
NMA will provide the 2003 scholarship applications to participating universities tomorrow. It will be available online by Friday, March 21, 2003 at http://www.nmascholars.org./. Interested parties can obtain an application from a participating university’s financial aid office or via the Web. Contact NMA at [email protected] or 510-763-1533 for more information.
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SUMMER GRILLING PROMOTION ‘03
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) has unveiled details of its
2003 Summer Grilling Campaign. The focus will be on all cuts of beef, including
the chuck and round, with the tagline, “Beef. It's What’s For Dinner.” The
development of strategic promotional partnerships with A.1. Steak Sauce
and Marinades, Kingsford Charcoal and Redwood Creek from E&J Gallo Winery
is one of the most powerful elements of the 2003 Summer Grilling program.
“Our 2002 campaign resulted in a ten percent increase in beef grilling cut sales and a seven percent increase in dollar sales,” said Randy Irion, director of retail marketing services for the NCBA in a press release. “We’ve taken the most successful components and key learnings from 2002 and have built an even bigger and better promotion for 2003.”
”With our aggressive 2003 summer promotion efforts, we anticipate increased
sales of all fresh beef, resulting in yet another successful summer for
retailers and the beef industry,” said Irion. “The ability to build on our
experiences from 2002 has allowed us to create an effective, targeted promotion
for retailers, and reach a greater number of consumers across the country with
our key messages.”
Some of the markets to be targeted in NCBA’s 2003 Summer Grilling Promotion
include: New York, Los Angeles/San Diego, Chicago, San Francisco/San Jose,
Philadelphia, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Detroit, Boston, Washington, D.C./Baltimore,
Houston/Galveston, Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix,
Nassau-Suffolk (Long Island), Tampa, Sacramento,
Denver, Seattle, Jacksonville and Indianapolis.
For more information about the 2003 Summer Grilling Promotion, contact Randy
Irion at 312-670-9403 or visit the official website at www.BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com. Read
about the 2002 Summer Grilling Promotion in last week’s Lean Trimmings.
CORRECTION
Please note the correct spelling of one of the new directors of Region 8 is Steven Nichol. The correct name of the company he represents is The Iowa Packing Company. Our apologies for this error.
ELECTRONIC
NEWSLETTER
Lean Trimmings and
Herd on the Hill are offered electronically. If you’d like to receive
the newsletter via e-mail, please contact Kiran Kernellu at [email protected] or 510-763-1533.
Receive the latest news every Monday afternoon in your Inbox instead of waiting
for it in the mail!
NMA reports news items that are of special interest to
its readers, and provides information that they may want to be able to
access. Below are links to the Federal
Register, AMS, APHIS, and FSIS, respectively:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html
ANIMAL HANDLING VIDEOS
NMA has available two videotapes on animal handling, “Animal Stunning for Stunners,” and “Animal Handling in Meat Plants.” NMA members may purchase theses videos at a discounted price. Please contact Julie Ramsey at [email protected] or 510-763-1533 for more information.
Page 3
GILLETT
OUTLINES FUTURE FOR SWIFT
George
Gillett Jr., chairman of Booth Creek Management, wowed attendees at NMA’s
annual meeting in Las Vegas, NV. Introduced by NMA President Ted Miller, E.A.
Miller, Hyrum, UT, Gillett bounded on stage to face his supporters, partners,
and competitors. Before addressing the crowd, he thanked Miller for his efforts
in helping Swift & Co. move ahead with its plans for the future. (ConAgra’s
sale of its meat assets included E.A. Miller as part of the deal.)
As the
driving force behind the return of the Swift name to the meat industry, Gillett
definitely has a passion for his new venture in the meat industry. Warming up
the crowd with a quip from his wife, he told the audience she had instructed
him to tell them that he was a man “who’s frequently wrong and seldom
uncertain.”
As partners
with Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc., Gillett and team acquired a 54 percent
ownership in ConAgra’s meat business last year, a move he describes as “a
win-win” transaction. “ConAgra was able to take its meatpacking operations off
its balance sheet and we were able to acquire a strong business on favorable
terms,” he said.
For Swift’s
management team, the initial challenge may be doing a better job with
producers, a goal endorsed by Gillett. “We've got to build partnerships.
Otherwise neither side wins.”
Beyond
promoting greater cooperation, whether through alliances or integration,
Gillett said the company would not be rushing to ship new products to the
market. “First, you have to work through your customers to understand what
consumers want, then you develop a brand proposition to exceed those
expectations,” he said. “Only then can you put a brand on the product -- not the other way around.”
No matter how
sweet the deal, challenges remain for the new Swift & Co. Gillett said the
challenges for senior management are formidable. They include the cyclical
nature of livestock prices, the commodity mentality of meatpackers, the
industry’s production-driven mindset, the pressure of consumer critics and
animal activists, the negative perceptions among mainstream media, and the lack
of both clout and credibility on Capitol Hill.
As a minority
part of this new business venture, this is Gillett’s fourth venture in the meat
industry. He has owned Packerland Packing on two occasions and Corporate Brand
Foods America, which was eventually purchased by IBP inc. Gillett, who has been called the “unsinkable Molly Brown of
the meat business,” has more than 40 years of history in the industry. In
addition, he has owned ski holdings in Vail, CO, the Harlem Globetrotters, the
Montreal Canadiens hockey team, ranches, farms, and several television
stations, among other business ventures.
Thank you to Brent Langman for his contribution to this article. He was
guest editor of the Lean Trimmings daily editions during NMA’s 57th
Annual Convention. The daily editions of Lean Trimmings are available
at: http://www.nmaonline.org/PUBLICATIONS/Newsletters/backissues/backissues.htm.
LAWMAKERS
SHOOT FROM THE HIP
Five U.S. lawmakers, in a 5-page letter to
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman dated March 12, are claiming that managers at
ConAgra Beef Co. knew of 33 positive tests for the pathogen E. coli
O157:H7 late last spring, but did not take “legally required steps to end the
life-threatening contamination before Americans fell seriously ill.” The lawmakers, each of whom has been an
outspoken critic of the meat and poultry inspection program and the industry
for years, are: Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Representatives Henry Waxman
(D-CA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
The lawmakers
said that they are asking Congress to: “give clear direction to FSIS to: (1) require USDA to set industry performance
standards for pathogens like E. coli O157:H7; (2) require companies to turn
over all pathogen testing results immediately to USDA; and (3) require
companies to deliver the positive samples to USDA for DNA fingerprinting,
allowing matches with cases of human illness.” While they acknowledged that
USDA had taken a number of steps to improve oversight of meat production, they
were critical of its testing program and its activities. Several of these same lawmakers were
aggressive questioners in last week’s Appropriations hearing when USDA
officials presented the 2004 food safety budget (see Food Safety Officials’
Testimony to House Ag Subcommittee in Herd on the Hill). They asked the
Secretary to join them in supporting these provisions and they asked for a
reply by March 21.
OPINIONS NEEDED!
This week a survey on the 2002 workshops and seminars
will be provided to members by fax. We would really appreciate your comments
and suggestions about these courses. Kindly complete and return the forms at
your earliest convenience.
Page 4
FOOD SAFETY IN SCHOOLS
On March 4 Senator Richard Durbin
(D-IL) introduced the Safe School Food Act of 2003 (S. 506), which would impose
a number of additional testing and reporting requirements on food produced for
use in the school lunch and breakfast programs. Prior to the introduction of this legislation, the American
School Food Service Association (ASFSA) offered a proposal to improve the
safety of school meals. Instead of establishing a separate food safety system
for food used in schools, the ASFSA proposal would focus on improving food
handling practices and food safety education at the school level. ASFSA
believes that the most effective means of ensuring food safety is in
utilization of safe food handling and preparation techniques that minimize
environmental risks as well as improving school foodservice facilities that
have deteriorated due to lack of resources.
To promote these food safety standards, ASFSA seeks legislation that all
school foodservice programs develop and implement a systemized approach to food
safety, including HACCP components. Contact Kiran Kernellu at [email protected] or 510-763-1533
to request a copy of the ASFSA proposal. Some other ASFSA suggestions are as
follows:
·
ASFSA recommends that
funds be provided for school food service staff training and assistance,
through grants to state agencies and to other organizations able to provide the
support needed for this purpose. For
technical assistance and training, ASFSA proposes that $10,000,000 per year be
made available (mandatory funds) for these grants.
·
ASFSA further recommends
that funds be made available to schools for rehabilitation and modernization of
food storage, preparation and service facilities, as some school district facilities
utilized for storing product and preparing and serving school meals have fallen
into such disrepair as to pose a risk of environmental contamination.
·
Finally, ASFSA recommends
that a timetable for implementation of a systemized approach to food safety,
including HACCP components, be developed that will provide sufficient time for
design, development and training.
NATIONAL MEAT ASSOCIATION
NMA - East: 1400 - 16th St. N.W., Suite 400, Washington D.C. 20036 Ph. (202)
667-2108
NMA - West: 1970 Broadway, Suite 825, Oakland, CA 94612 Ph. (510) 763-1533 Fax (510) 763-6186
Edited by Kiran Kernellu
March 17, 2003
BEEF CHECKOFF
The 8th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments last Monday in St. Paul, MN on the beef checkoff. You can listen to the arguments by visiting www.ca8.uscourts.gov/onestop.html, entering case number 02-2769, clicking on Search, then “Oral Argument,” and downloading and playing it. A decision is expected by July.
Most recently, district courts in Montana and
the District of Columbia ruled that programs like the checkoff constitute
government messages, countering the claim of checkoff opponents that the program
violates the First Amendment protection of free speech. Cattle Buyers Weekly
reported today that an attorney for Nebraska Cattlemen told the appeals
court that the First Amendment doesn’t come into play on the program’s
constitutionality. According to the report, an attorney for the checkoff
opponents boiled the controversy down to two questions: Is this considered
government speech? And, if it is, should a targeted group be required to pay
for it?
NMA QUESTIONS COOL’S
CONSTITUTIONALITY!
The subject of COOL came up frequently during
NMA’s 57th Annual Convention in Las Vegas, NV two weeks ago. During
discussions about COOL, NMA legal counsel Phil Olsson relayed that the
legislation has serious constitutional weaknesses in that it is a form of
compelled speech. The government should have a compelling reason to require
that the country of origin information be placed on a commodity label. To the
contrary, certain provisions in the COOL mandate allow for misleading
information to be disseminated to consumers. Cattle Buyers Weekly used
the example of an indigenous Mexican animal. Even if that animal leaves Mexico
at an early age, it must still be labeled a product of Mexico.
NMA is asking Agriculture Secretary Ann
Veneman to request that USDA counsel provide a legal opinion of the law. This
will help to highlight questions of constitutionality before the regulation for
mandatory COOL is to be promulgated, before September 30, 2004. In the interim,
NMA advises its members to ask their livestock suppliers for full records. NMA
is also seeking a comprehensive analysis of COOL’s impact.
ROUNDTABLE
SEMINAR TAPES
Audio tapes of the interactive roundtable seminars at NMA’s 57th
Annual Convention are now available! Don’t miss out on the thought-provoking
and challenging questions and answers from experts and attendees during these
twelve sessions: Preventing H7; What Works; Making RTE Products Safe;
Sampling & Testing Methods; The Workplace Q&A; Industry Consolidation;
Security: Business & Industry; Managing the Paper Trail; Standards for
HACCP Validation; Industry-Government Working Together; COOL or NOT COOL! &
Nutrition; Telling the Meat Industry Story; and Moving Forward with Branded
Meats. Order forms for the tapes have been included as an insert in the
mailing of this newsletter (see the reverse of the Listeria Workshop
brochure). Contact NMA at [email protected]
or 510-763-1533 to request an order form.
Page 2
NMA TO
VISIT WASHINGTON, D.C.
NMA will make
its annual visit to Washington, D.C. April 8-10, 2003. We invite our members to
join us in meeting with legislators and stakeholders and helping to educate
them about the industry and NMA. Look for more information in coming issues of Lean
Trimmings or contact us at [email protected] or 510-763-1533. We hope to
see you in Washington!
FOOD SAFETY OFFICIALS’ TESTIMONY TO HOUSE AG SUBCOMMITTEE
Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elsa Murano and FSIS Administrator Dr.
Garry L. McKee testified before the House Agriculture Appropriations
Subcommittee on FSIS’ FY 2004 budget request on March 12. Stephen B. Dewhurst,
Director of the Office of Budget and Program Analysis, discussed food
safety programs for 2004. Associate Administrator Linda Swacina, other FSIS
officials and USDA Office of Budget and Program Analysis staff member Chris
Zehren accompanied them. Read their testimony on the Web at:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/oa/congress/testimony.htm.
Drs. Murano and McKee answered questions by Committee members on numerous
issues, including the Agency’s Listeria directive and final rule,
modernization of the FSIS workforce, FSIS homeland security efforts, the
relationship between foodborne illnesses and recalls, a single food safety
agency, foreign equivalency audits, and the Wampler recall. Representative
Henry Bonilla (R-TX) chaired the hearing, and Ranking Member Marcy Kaptur
(D-OH), and Representatives Tom Latham (R-IA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Maurice
Hinchey (D-NY), George Nethercutt (R-WA), Sam Farr (D-CA), Allen Boyd (D-FL),
Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), and Virgil Goode (I-VA) were in attendance.
In her opening
statement, Dr. Murano praised the United States’ food supply as the best and
safest in the world. She also said that
the rate of food borne illness is down 23% since 2001. Dr. Murano outlined FSIS’ priorities for the
next fiscal year, including ensuring that food safety policy is science-based;
improving the management and efficacy of food safety programs; facilitating
coordination between public health and food safety agencies, including Centers
for Disease Control and state governments; protecting the food supply from
intentional harm, such as terrorism; and engaging in proactive educational
campaigns aimed at safe food handling.
Dr. McKee spoke briefly about his goals for the fiscal year, including
studying current food safety problems to better assess the public health
situation faced by FSIS; focusing policy development on risk-reduction models;
and seeking improved enforcement of established regulatory policies.
Contact Kiran Kernellu at [email protected] or 510-763-1533 to request a memo from Olsson, Frank & Weeda on the proceedings.
FSIS’ INTERNATIONAL MEAT AND POULTRY FOOD
SAFETY MEETING
FSIS will hold a public meeting on Thursday, March 27, 2003 to share views and discuss strategies for improving global food safety. The public meeting will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Pan American Health Organization, 525 23rd Street, SW, Washington, D.C. Registration is suggested but not required. To register, please contact Sheila Johnson at (202) 690-6498 or [email protected].
IRRADIATED
MEAT IN THE NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM
Reuters recently reported that USDA
has asked consumer advocates and industry groups to submit comments on how to
introduce irradiated meat into the national school lunch program by April 11.
Last year Congress required the USDA to allow government-approved food safety
technologies such as irradiation to be used in commodities purchased by the
federal school lunch program.