NCBA Urges Senate to Confirm Key USDA Nominees

Today, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) urged the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry to confirm key nominees for Under Secretary for Food Safety and Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“Cattle producers need strong, stable leadership in top positions at USDA and we urge the Senate to move quickly on confirming these highly qualified nominees,” said NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane.

For the position of Under Secretary for Food Safety, the President nominated Dr. Jose Emilio Esteban...

HPAI Findings Have Waned, but Not Stopped

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) hasn’t completely disappeared from the U.S. landscape, although the number of incidents has declined dramatically over the summer.

As the data from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in the accompanying charts show, detections in both commercial and backyard flocks have dwindled since peaking in April and May, respectively...

NCC Statement in Response to FSIS Announcing its Plans to Declare Salmonella an Adulterant 

The National Chicken Council today released the following statement in response to FSIS announcing its plans to declare Salmonella an adulterant in frozen, raw, breaded, stuffed, chicken products. Attributable to Ashley Peterson, Ph.D., senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs.

“As these products often appear ready to eat, but contain raw chicken, we recognize their nature raises special considerations that merit additional attention. The National Chicken Council (NCC) and our member companies have invested millions of dollars and have worked for more than a...

Frickenschmidt Foods LLC Recalls Ready-to-Eat Beef Stick Products Due to Misbranding

Frickenschmidt Foods LLC, a Lockwood, Mo. establishment, is recalling approximately 5,795 pounds of ready-to-eat beef stick products due to misbranding, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The product contains and declares wheat as an ingredient but has an incorrect statement of “gluten free” on the label.

The ready-to-eat teriyaki beef stick items were packaged on Nov. 30, 2021, Dec. 1, 2021, and Jan. 28, 2021. The following products are subject to recall:

- 1.5 oz. individually sealed...

NCC Submits Comments on the Labeling of Cell-Cultured Meat, Poultry Products

The National Chicken Council (NCC) believes cell-cultured products must be marketed in an appropriate manner that clearly conveys their basic nature to consumers and avoids confusion between cell-cultured protein products and traditional animal protein products.

“This approach ensures a neutral playing field wherein consumers are provided truthful information about cell-cultured products so that they may make choices as they deem most appropriate,” said NCC SVP of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, Ashley Peterson, Ph.D., in comments submitted to USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on...

NCBA Fights for Definitive Labels on Lab-Grown Meat

Today, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) submitted comments to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) related to the labeling of meat or poultry products that contain lab-grown animal cells. NCBA believes that the term “beef” should only be applicable to products derived from livestock raised by farmers and ranchers. As USDA-FSIS works to develop regulatory standards for labeling lab-grown, or cell-cultured, protein products, NCBA is committed to ensuring that product labels are fair, accurate, and will safeguard a...

Nick’s Famous Bar-B-Q Recalls Ready-To-Eat Pork Products Due to Possible Listeria Contamination

Nick’s Famous Bar-B-Q, a Nashville, Tenn., establishment, is recalling approximately 3,140 pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) smoked pork barbecue products that may be adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The frozen RTE hickory smoked pork barbecue products were produced on September 7, 2021 and September 8, 2021 and packaged on September 8, 2021. The following products are subject to recall:

- 20-lb. boxes of...