SEMA_________________________________

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

SALMONELLA CASES DECLINE

Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced that the rate of Salmonella in raw meat and poultry dropped by 66 percent over the past six years and by 16 percent compared with 2002.

FSIS has more than 8,000 inspection personnel stationed in meat and poultry plants across the nation to ensure compliance with federal laws and regulations. As part of an extensive science-based food safety system, FSIS collects and analyzes Salmonella samples in seven categories of raw meat and poultry as one way to verify compliance with food safety requirements.

Of the random samples collected and analyzed between January 1 and October 31, 2003 by FSIS, 3.6 percent tested positive for Salmonella, as compared with 4.29 percent in 2002.

AMI ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM

American Meat Institute’s Environmental Master Achiever Pioneer Star (MAPS) program is designed to help companies improve its environmental management systems. David Townsend, vice president of environmental affairs for Premium Standard Farms says there are numerous benefits to be had from the MAPS program, including:

• Reduction in accidents and injuries
• Increased efficiencies
• Pollution prevention
• Brand awareness
• Improved public perception

The cost of the program may deter some companies from joining. The MAPS program could revel additional environmental-related concerns that would have to be addressed and that would incur more costs. AMI intends to publish more information about the MAPS program on its Web site www.MeatAMI.com before the end of the year.

USDA FOOD SAFETY AGENDA

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced a unified food safety research agenda to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of food safety programs. The research agenda is one of several key initiatives USDA is implementing to enhance food safety and improve food inspections systems.

The unified agenda, which prioritizes research needs and maximizes use of available resources, includes research to:

• Investigate the ecology, epidemiology, virulence and genetic characteristics related to pathogenicity for E. coli O157.H7, salmonella, listeria and other foodborne pathogens to identify targeted control measures.
• Develop effective on-farm, feedlot, transportation, handling and other pre-processing intervention strategies for reducing the incidence and levels of antibiotic resistant microorganisms and key food borne pathogens in poultry, meat, eggs and fresh produce.
• Develop, validate and transfer technology of new and improved processing methods to reduce or eliminate key foodborne pathogens in poultry, meat, fresh produce, seafood and ready-to-eat foods.
• Develop rapid and sensitive detection methods for abnormal prions to prevent the possible spread of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

The complete USDA unified food safety research agenda is available at www.fsis.udsa.gov.

INSPECTORS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

In a speech to the Office of Field Operations Supervisory Conference in Nashville, Tenn., Gary McKee, administrator of the Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, criticized federal meat inspectors for failing to intervene in the face of unsafe and cruel practices.

“I am tired of reading articles quoting our inspectors as saying we don’t have the authority to take action against a plant that is patently violating..our statutes. Everyone in this room knows we have the authority,” McKee said.

Inspectors are afraid of being sued in civil court for massive damages under an obscure 1871 law that allows individuals, rather than a federal agency to be held responsible for rights violations.

One possible remedy McKee mentioned in his speech was the creation of an indemnification coverage plan to “protect the workforce from nuisance lawsuits from falsely aggrieved companies.”

USDA’s CANADA-BSE PROPOSAL

The Agriculture Department is to issue a proposed rule amending its BSE regulations to establish a new category of regions that recognizes those that present a minimal risk of introducing BSE into the United States via the importation of certain low-risk live ruminants and ruminant products. This would allow Canadian cattle to be imported into the United States. “The United States has a long history of having safeguards in place to prevent the introduction of BSE,” said Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman. “The continued protection of the U.S. food supply is our top priority. This proposal reflects a thorough review of the scientific evidence, which shows the risk to public health to be extremely low.”

HELP TAKE THE CHILL OUT OF “COOL”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has written a rule that will force all meat processors to put Country-of Origin Labeling information on their meat products. It has been estimated that the cost the first year alone will be $3.9 billion. Of that $2.4 billion will be what the meat industry will have to pay.

The senators made a non-binding agreement to support funding for COOL on the 2004 Agriculture Appropriations bill. The bill has now been passed on to the US House of Representatives.

We urge our members to write their House and Senate members on this issue. For names and addresses of your congressmen go to: www.senate.gov or www.house.gov.

DUTCH FOOD RETAILER AHOLD TAPS BENJAMIN TO HEAD U.S. BRANCH

Lawrence S. Benjamin joined U.S. Foodservice on November 1 as their chief executive. He came from NutraSweet in Chicago where he was their chief executive.

Benjamin has held a number of executive positions in the food industry, including those of president and chief executive of Stella Foods and Specialty Foods Corp., both of which are holdings of Oak Hill Capital Management. He also worked at Kraft Foods, Inc.

U.S. Foodservice, the second-largest foodservice distribution company in the United States, had been accused of accounting irregularities between 2000 and 2002 with regard to vendor rebates. Ahold reported that profits were overstated by nearly $1 billion at U.S. Foodservice.

OWENS COUNTRY SAUSAGE—75 AND GROWING

Owens Country Sausage has opened a new food production plant in Sulphur Springs, Texas. The 56,000 square foot facility will be able to produce 18 million pounds of convenience food items to be shipped throughout 30 states.

LATEST COOKING TREND

Sous-vide, the French term that translates literally to “under vacuum.” Sous vide, a technique once confined to the realm of food preservation has emerged as a creative cooking method whereby ingredients are vacuum packed in pouches, poached and then chilled.

This process allows chefs more precision when they cook for large groups of people. Individual portion pouches used in sous-vide cooking can be a valuable time saver as well.

WAL-MART’S NEW RADIO-BASED TRACKING SYSTEM

A new high-tech inventory-tracking system known as (radio frequency identification) RFID will be implemented by Wal-Mart. RFID tags, which contain special microchips and antennae, are designed to automatically relay precise information about the contents of product packages and containers to computers. It will save Wal-Mart nearly 8.4 million in reduced labor and tracking mistakes via bar codes.

Large suppliers will spend an average of $13 million to $23 million to comply with Wal-Mart’s plan.

LARGEST GROCERY-STORE CHAINS IN U.S.

BUZZWORD – “OFFSHORING”

A new word has been popping up lately in management literature. It’s likely brought to you by the same folks who coined terms like “paradigm shift” and “enterprise resource management.”

In recent months, the term “off-shoring” began appearing in articles from sources ranging from U.K. technology business Web site Silicon.com, job search Web site Monster.com, and management consultant McKinsey.

It refers to firms’ practice of shifting some tech and customer service jobs overseas, especially to countries like India, where an educated work force will work for lower wages than U.S. staffers.

US-CANADIAN JOINT VENTURE

Tyson Foods and Canada’s Export Packers Company will have a joint venture called Export Packers Foods Ltd. This will allow Tyson in the Canadian market, where import restrictions have limited shipment of the company’s brand-name products. They will produce fully cooked chicken.

The plant with an initial capacity for 26 million pounds of chicken a year, will process US and Canadian birds.

Tyson and Export Packers said they will combine both companies’ existing sales and distribution forces to tap into the Canadian market, where fully cooked chicken is a fast growing segment of business.

DID YOU KNOW?……… 75% of Workers Do Not Have New Jobs By The Time Their Unemployment Benefits Run Out.

SEMA’S 2004 CONVENTION SITE HONORED

For the second year, the Adam’s Mark Daytona Beach Resort has won the Paragon Award presented by Corporate Meeting & Incentives magazine.

The award recognizes top hotels, resorts and conference centers for the quality of meeting rooms, food and beverage services, guest rooms, catering and conventions services.

The Paragon Award is one of several industry awards presented to the 746-room hotel this year. Others include the Pinnacle Award from Successful Meeting magazine and the Planner’s Choice Award from Meeting News magazine.

Reminder…The 2004 SEMA Convention will be held at the Adam’s Mark in Daytona. Mark your calendar and plan to attend. June 11-13, 2004. Information regarding the convention will be coming to you in the near future.

MAKE RESERVATIONS NOW FOR THE MAY IFFA TOUR

SEMA will co-sponsor a U.S. Meat Industry Tour to the International Meat Trades Fair (IFFA)
held in Frankfurt, Germany. The tour dates are May 13-23, 2004 with departure from JFK airport in New York. The tour price for SEMA members is $2,495 (double occupancy). However, there is a $699 supplemental surcharge for a single rate.

To obtain a complete detailed brochure, please contact the SEMA office at 407.365.5661.

MEMBER NEWS

Dr. Joe Yates has joined Chilton Consulting Group as a Principal/Senior Consultant effective November 4, 2003. Joe was formerly with SEMA members, LaBella Sausage and Crofton & Sons. We are happy Joe has stayed within the SEMA family and wish him the best in his new career.

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THINGS TO PONDER…………………..

“To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success” Henry J. Heinz

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HOLIDAY WISHES

As 2003 comes to a close, it is a time to reflect on the past year. I would like to thank all of you for your participation and support of SEMA. It is gratifying to see SEMA grow and I look forward to working with all of you in 2004.

I wish all of you a happy and joyous holiday season.

Anna