SEMA_________________________________

SOUTHEASTERN MEAT ASSOCIATION
P.O. Box 620777; Oviedo, FL 32762 Phone: 407-365-5661

SEMA CONVENTION

June 10 -11, 2011
Shores Resort & Spa
Daytona Beach Shores, FL

SEMA will be celebrating its 25th anniversary, with an educational and fun-filled convention planned in Daytona Beach at the Shores Resort & Spa.

Virtual plant tours

• “Slaughter to Process” Gary Malenke, Sioux-Preme Packing
• “What Happens Next” Matt Mitchell, Bruce Pac Meat Product Designers
  
  Educational presentations
• Marketing, Sales & Trends
• Measuring Customer and Product Profitability
• Overview of Current Trends for Sodium Reduction in Processed Meats

Roundtable Discussions

• Insurance
• Exporting
• Financing

40 exhibitors with the latest technology

A few of the companies exhibiting:

Networking opportunities

Time for Fun

Friday evening have fun while raising money for student scholarships.
Roaring 20’s Casino Night
B I N G O and games for the kids

Presidents Banquet, Dinner & Entertainment
Saturday evening SEMA’s 25th Anniversary
Honoring SEMA past Presidents

Convention Resort

The Shores Resort & Spa is Daytona’s only AAA Four-Diamond luxury beachfront hotel. Come enjoy the miles of white-sand beach, surf, service and style. The SEMA convention is family oriented as Daytona Beach has not only the beach but many attractions within one hour of the resort.
You can view the resort at www.shoresresort.com

• SEMA Golf Tournament Saturday, the LPGA Course
• Enjoy the surf, sand and water at the famous Daytona Beach
• Visit the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse or the Science Marine Center

Convention information and registration will be on the SEMA web site mid-April or put your name on the mailing list by e-mailing info@southeasternmeat.com or call the office 407.365.5661.

Steak Company to Appear On “The Celebrity Apprentice”

Omaha Steaks' Bruce Simon and Todd Simon will serve up a task related to Omaha Steaks, on the April 17th showing of “The Celebrity Apprentice”. Celebrities such as Meat Loaf, Dionne Warwick and Star Jones will compete for $250,000 to the charity of their choice. Omaha Steaks has been a family business for nearly 100 years.

New Sample Method for E. COLI

FSIS will change the amount of sample tested E. coli O157:H7 in raw beef samples at the laboratory. The new testing procedure will begin March 21, 2011. Rather than analyzing 5 individual 65-g samples, the agency will begin analyzing 325-g composite samples of ground beef, trim, and other components of raw ground beef. An abstract of the findings can be found on the FSIS website.

New Salmonella/Campylobacter Standards for Poultry

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced implementation of revised and new performance standards aimed at reducing the prevalence of Salmonella and Campylobacter in young chickens and turkeys. The improved standards will become effective in July 2011. With the new standards, FSIS is encouraging establishments slaughtering chicken and turkey to make continued reductions in the occurrence of pathogens —namely Salmonella and Campylobacter — in the products they produce.

FSIS is announcing the new performance standards and inviting comment in the Federal Register Notice that will publish shortly.

The new performance standards were developed in response to a charge from the President's Food Safety Working Group and based on recent FSIS Nationwide Microbiological Baseline Data
Collection Programs. The standards will be applied to sample sets collected and analyzed by the Agency to evaluate establishment performance with respect to requirements of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) Rule.

FSIS Directives & Notices

Docket No. FSIS 2010-0029
New Performance Standards for Salmonella and Campylobacter in Young Chicken and Turkey Slaughter Establishments: Response to Comments and Announcement of Implementation Schedule.

FSIS Notice 13-11
Level of In-Plant Targeted Testing for Chemical Residues

FSIS Notice 12-11
How to Proceed In Establishments That Have Multiple FSIS Laboratory Confirmed Residue Violations from the Same Source Supplier

FSIS Directive 5720.3
Methodology for Performing Scheduled and Targeted Reviews of State Meat and Poultry Inspection Programs

All notices and directives are available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Regulations_&_Policies/index.asp

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Something to ponder . . . . . .
“ When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that
four of his fingers are pointing at himself."
Louis Nizer, American lawyer
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Food-Stamp Payments for Some Restaurant Meals

Officials in San Diego have approved a measure to allow about 21,000 senior citizens, disabled residents and homeless people to use their food stamps to pay for meals at designated area restaurants that sell low-cost, healthy fare. The local government will partner with the California Restaurant Association to launch the program, which officials say will boost nutrition for at-risk residents while bolstering the local economy.

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Something to Ponder . . . . . .
“ We are all inclined to judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their acts."
Harold Nicolson, British author, politician and diplomat
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Beef Is Celebrating Earth Day - Good For The Planet; Good For You

by The Beef Checkoff Program

April 22nd marks Earth Day, and the beef checkoff is once again encouraging producers to tell their friends and family to do something good for their body and the planet by celebrating with steak. Why? Because the beef raised today requires less land, water and energy than before and each serving provides 10 essential nutrients to your diet.

A number of state beef councils will be participating in Earth Day efforts on a local level. For a list of state beef council contact information or for more information about your beef checkoff investment, visit MyBeefCheckoff.com.

Mandatory Pork Price Reporting Committee Meetings

Round two of the Mandatory Pork Price Reporting Committee meeting was held in Washington DC March 15-17. Gary Malenke of Sioux-Preme Pork Products was unable to attend due to his participation at the NAMP Management Conference. Jim Malek from the company and Rob Nicolosi of Nicolosi Foods attended as alternates. SEMA is partnering with the North American Meat Processors Association (NAMP) and American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP) on this project.

This report reflects some of the highlights, but the committee has not made a final recommendation, so changes are possible. Considerable time was spent discussing if the reporting basis should be FOB Omaha (which is how the current voluntary report is done) or FOB plant basis. The committee is mixed on this issue and tabled the topic for the next meeting. The other major item tabled was whether offals and variety meats should be part of mandatory price reporting (MPR) or done on a voluntary basis. Given many of these items are not traded on a daily spot basis lends support for categorizing them in some other reporting means. Further discussion will be needed. There was support to include enhanced and branded pork as part of MPR. If there are known costs associated with a transaction, such as point of sale materials, accruals, rebates or marketing funds, the committee recommend not including them in the sale price. There was support for including packer-to-packer sales in the report, but intra company transfers (where by a packer maintains ownership of a product to be further processed) would not be part of MPR.

Discussion of pork types (or categories) for reported centered around four groups:
a) barrows/gilts,
b) sows,
c) boars,
d) mixed (some combination of a,b,c).

Sale types were defined as
a) negotiated spot,
b) forward contract (within 90 days),
c) forward contract (over 90 days),
d) formula marketing agreement.
The final meeting will be on May 10 - 12, location to be determined.

SEMA Welcomes New Member

NUTEC Manufacturing
908 Garnet Court New Lenox, IL 60451
Craig Colegrove Sr.
815.207.3724
Referred by Hugh Tyler, The Butcher Shop, SC

CALENDAR OF EVENTS