LINCOLN, Neb. - Beef backers are hopeful their product will remain what's for dinner after a series of food-safety scares that has once again put the industry on the defensive.
The latest blow to the industry came, when South Korea suspended imports of beef produced in Nebraska after reporting finding E. coli bacteria last week on the surface of frozen and sliced beef bought from IBP Inc.
News of that discovery scared away customers from South Korean restaurants serving beef. Major stores reported sharp drops in sales of imported beef.
Whenever news breaks about a potential outbreak of E. coli in America foreign customers become skittish, said Gary Mickelson, spokesman for Dakota City, Neb-based IBP, the nation's biggest beefpacker. "Each time there's a story of this nature it raises questions about the procedures and practices used by our industry."
Foreign markets "are very important to the economic health of the beef industry," said Sara Lilygren, senior vice president at the American Meat Institute, a trade association representing 300 companies. "When they find E. coli in U.S. shipments they can sometimes overreact in a way that's extremely damaging to the U.S. beef industry."
Last year 7.3% of beef produced in the U.S. was exported, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Red meat represented 7.6% of the total U.S. agricultural exports.
For IBP, exports accounted for 13% of the company's $12.5 billion in sales last year.
To combat a fear of U.S. meat in foreign markets, IBP works to educate customers, butchers and grocers about food safety precautions, Mickelson said.
"I think it all boils down to doing the best job everybody can to promoting food safety," said Dennis Burson, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor of meat science and a meat specialist. "We're just currently operating in a system that's not 100% risk free."
The industry is counting on loyal consumers like Renet Austin to preserve its business.
Mrs. Austin kept meat in her family's diet, even after her infant daughter became sick three years ago, when ground beef tainted with the E. coli bacteria contaminated something the 10-month-old had touched. The Virginia mother of two says she's learned to treat her kitchen "like a sterile surgical field."
"I treat any beef, poultry and or produce coming into the house like it could be contaminated," Mrs. Austin said.
If more can be done to make the system disease-free, consumer confidence will rise, said Rosemary Mucklow, executive director of the National Meat Association.
"We need to work to get E. coli out of the livestock chain," she said.
Some members of Congress say it's about time the Food and Drug Administration approved irradiation to destroy harmful microbes in beef.
Irradiation -- which involves use of gamma rays to kill unwanted microbes -- is seen by backers as the answer to a food inspection system that cannot guarantee meats are free of E. coli, salmonella or other organisms that cause human illness. But it has strong opposition from consumers who fear the use of radioactivity.
In the meantime, the only way consumers can be sure the meat is safe now is to cook it thoroughly.
"We must ensure that people do not panic," Nebraska Gov. Ben Nelson said this week. "We must eradicate E. coli and not eliminate beef."
On Wednesday, prices of contracts for future delivery of cattle plunged to their lowest level since late June when Hudson Foods Inc. revealed that it has been subpoenaed in a federal grand jury investigation in this summer's recall of 25 million pounds of ground beef -- the largest meat recall in U.S. history.
In addition to the Hudson recall, the USDA is investigating a Nebraska BeefAmerica plant suspected of supplying contaminated meat found in a Virginia grocery store.
It is too early to know what the long-term repercussions will be, Burson said.
"Many times you'll see a drop off in sales initially," Burson said. "As long as afterwards there's no further problems you may see a rebounding."
During an E. coli outbreak in 1993 that sickened more than 500 hamburger eaters and killed three children, consumers turned their backs on beef. Annual consumption bottomed out at 61.6 pounds a person, according to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
Consumption climbed back to 63.4 pounds a person in 1997, far below the 17-year high of 74.7 pounds per person in 1985.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
P.O. Box 553
Northport, NY 11768
Phone: 631-757-4010
Fax: 631-757-4060
E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com
Web Site: http://www.spcnetwork.com/mii