Foundation Secures FY 20 Beef Checkoff Funding

The Foundation for Meat and Poultry Research and Education received nearly $800,000 in FY20 to conduct research on behalf of the Beef Checkoff. Research will address post-harvest beef safety and processed beef nutrition.

“The Foundation is thrilled to be able to administer research on these critical topics on behalf of the Beef Checkoff,” said Susan Backus, President, Foundation for Meat & Poultry Research & Education. “The Checkoff investment in post-harvest beef safety and processed beef nutrition research is critical to expanding the knowledge base to ensure regulatory and public health policies are rooted in science; ensuring consumer and customer trust in beef products; and providing value to beef producers by ensuring awareness that beef products are safe and nutritious.”

Research funding will be used toward projects addressing current knowledge gaps; facilitating the dissemination of research data and knowledge sharing through meetings, or other events targeted to appropriate stakeholders; developing tools that share post-harvest research results or summarize research to provide guidance and information for beef processing facilities of all sizes; and developing tools that substantiate processed beef products’ role in a healthy, sustainable diet and active lifestyle.

Post-harvest beef safety research could address any appropriate research priorities identified by the Foundation’s Research Advisory Committee, which may include but are not limited to:

• Identifying the combination of virulence factors that cause human illness in pathogenic Salmonella and E. coli.
• Evaluating how Salmonella exists and moves throughout the supply chain, including regional, seasonal and production practice differences on the prevalence, level and serotype on products, including lymph nodes.
• Evaluating the efficacy of interventions during the grinding process to maximize reduction of microbial contamination in ground beef.

Processed beef nutrition research could address any appropriate research priorities identified by the Foundation’s Research Advisory Committee, which may include but are not limited to:

• A risk-benefit analysis on the consumption of processed beef products as a component of a healthy diet and lifestyle.
• How does processed beef intake, particularly as part of a dietary pattern, influence cardiometabolic health outcomes across life stages from the introduction of foods, into childhood, and through older adulthood?
• What is the relationship between types of dietary fat found in processed beef products consumed at each stage of life and neurocognitive development or neurocognitive health?