SEMA_________________________________

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

SEMA President

Wayne Lord, President of Lord’s Sausage & Country Ham was elected SEMA President for 2012-2013. "Just as Scott Kelley and SEMA Leaders before me, I would like to continue working together to address current issues facing us all in the meat industry.  Listening and obtaining ideas from experts and other SEMA members at our conventions is a tremendous benefit of SEMA membership.  To me, it is important to realize that we are not alone when dealing with our industry’s toughest problems.  SEMA helps us work together to find solutions to our challenges.”  Wayne Lord, SEMA President Lord’s Sausage & Country Ham is a USDA inspected family owned business located in Dexter, Georgia and has been in business since 1928.  Their products include Fresh Pork Sausage, Cracklings, Cook and Serve Chitterlings, and Country Cured Meats.

Proposed Rule to Better Label Raw Meat & Poultry Containing Added Solutions

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing a new rule to establish common, easy-to-understand names for raw meat and poultry products that include injections, marinades, or have otherwise incorporated added solutions which may not be visible to the consumer.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/NR_072111_01/index.asp 

USDA Expands Salmonella Initiative Program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced it will expand and move ahead on the Salmonella Initiative Program (SIP) to help reduce Salmonella in raw meat and poultry products. FSIS’ goal is to reduce and eliminate pathogens before products reach consumers, and the SIP will support those in the industry who want to utilize pathogen-preventing technologies and techniques.

The voluntary, incentive-based program will allow participating establishments to operate under certain regulatory waivers in order to try new procedures, equipment or processing techniques to better control Salmonella. In return, SIP establishments collect product samples on each line during each shift of every day of production; establishments then use these samples to test for common food borne pathogens such as Salmonella, campylobacter and generic E. coli, and share this internal food safety data with FSIS.

Promotions-Coupons

A study from Terra Technology found an 80% increase in 2010 in the volume of consumer packaged goods sold through discounts, coupons or other promotions. The volume of goods purchased through promotions was 23%, compared with 13% in 2009, according to the firm for supply-chain technology.

Food Deserts

National and regional chains will join with first lady Michelle Obama to bring fresh fruits, vegetables and other nutritious foods to the USA's "food deserts".  Stores include Wal-Mart, Walgreens and SuperValu, along with regional retailers that will be opening or expanding more than 1,500 stores.  Currently, some 23.5 million Americans, live in low-income areas that lack stores that are likely to sell affordable and nutritious foods.  The Department of Agriculture defines a “food desert” as a Census tract where 33% or 500 people, whichever is less, live more than a mile from a grocery store in an urban area or more than 10 miles away in a rural area.

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Things to Ponder . . . . . . The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are
                                               willing to work and give to those who would not.
                                                                                                                                    Thomas Jefferson
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Private Label Gaining on Brand Labels

Sales of branded food and beverage products were up less than 1 percent last year while sales of store brands (aka private label, house brand, own brand, retailer brand or the passé moniker “generic”) products grew about 1.7 percent in the year ended May 14.  Unit market share for private label in U.S. supermarkets is now 23.5 percent, according to The Nielsen Co.

Retail sales of store-branded products hit $88.5 billion (including Wal-Mart) for 2010, according to the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA), citing Nielsen data.  That's 19.1 percent of the $352 billion in food and beverage sales in the Nielsen database.  Retailers rack in bigger profits on their store brands, and they pass the savings on to consumers.  By purchasing store brands rather than national brands the average shopper can save 33 percent off their weekly grocery bill.  Higher prices, smaller package sizes and pain at the pump are driving consumers to buy lower-priced grocery items.

FSIS Directives & Notices

FSIS Directive 5420.4  July 20
Food Defense Verification and Surveillance Procedures and National Terrorism Advisory System Alert Response for the Office of International Affairs Import Inspection Division- Revision 6

FSIS Notice 36-11  July 11
Temporary Changes in Sampling Frequency for E. coli O157:H7 Testing in Raw Ground Beef

FSIS Directive 7120.1 July 7
Safe and Suitable Ingredients Used in the Production of Meat, Poultry, and Egg Products

FSIS Notice 35-11 July 7
Verification Activities Related to the Use of Ingredients of Public Health Concern
More at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Regulations_&_Policies/index.asp  

MyPlate to Help Consumers to Make Healthier Food Choices

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack and First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled the federal government's new MyPlate food icon, which replaced the USDA's long-in-use food pyramid graphic.  The U.S. Government's new MyPlate food and nutritional graphic is essentially a carbon copy of what the United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency has been using for years - which is its Eatwell Plate.

According to Vilsack, the need for a new and simpler icon was originally identified in President Obama's Child Obesity Task Force report which noted that simple, actionable advice for consumers is needed when it comes to food and nutrition advice.  After about $2 million in research and development, MyPlate will replace the MyPyramid image as the government’s primary food group symbol as an easy-to-understand visual cue to help consumers adopt healthy eating habits consistent with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, he said.  Over the next several years, USDA will work with First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’sMove! initiative and public and private partners to promote MyPlate and ChooseMyPlate.gov.

The MyPyramid graphic isn't going away completely.  Vilsack said “it will remain available to interested health professionals and nutrition educators in a special section of the new website”.

NAMP Announces Second Campylobacter Workshop

Learn the very latest about the most challenging topics beef processors are dealing with today at NAMP’s E. coli Conference for Beef Further Processors, Aug. 17-18, at the Four Points by Sheraton near Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.  The conference is designed for processors who produce ground beef, mechanically ten­derized steaks and other non-intact beef products.

Register now to take advantage of the early registration discount. Until Aug. 3, the registration fee for the two-day conference is US$449 for members of NAMP and its partner organizations, and US$549 for non-members.

A block of rooms has been set aside at a significantly discounted rate of US$99/night.

Register and get more information, including lodging and accommodation at: www.namp.com. 

FSIS-ASK

Q: How can an establishment obtain the FSIS laboratory results of FSIS verification sampling?

A: If an establishment provides its email address to FSIS inspection program personnel (IPP), IPP will enter the establishment email address into the Public Health Information System (PHIS) (if the establishment is in PHIS) or the Performance-Based Inspection System (PBIS) (if the establishment is not yet in PHIS). The Agency transfers establishment email addresses to the Laboratory Electronic Application for Results Notification (LEARN) system weekly, on Mondays. Then, if the establishment email address is entered correctly by IPP, the establishment will begin to receive FSIS verification sampling results from LEARN shortly after the update to LEARN. If the establishment does not receive the verification sampling results, the establishment should check any SPAM filter that may be blocking the emails from being received. The LEARN results are sent from OPHSLEARN@fsis.usda.gov and this address can be added to the establishment's address book.

NOTE: No emails should be sent to the OPHSLEARN@fsis.usda.gov address, as this email address is only used to send out sample status notification messages; not receive them. If an establishment is not receiving the FSIS laboratory results, the establishment needs to ask IPP to verify the email address entered into PHIS or PBIS. While PHIS will allow more than one establishment email address per establishment to be entered, LEARN will only accept one for notification purposes. If after verifying the establishment email address is entered correctly, the establishment still is not receiving the FSIS laboratory results, the establishment can call the Policy Development Division at 1-800-233-3935 to assist in troubleshooting this issue or submit details of the problem using askFSIS.

Get to Know SEMA New Member

SGS is the world’s leading inspection, testing, verification and certification company.  Recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity, we employ over 70,000 employees in over 1000 offices in over 130 countries around the world.  They are constantly looking beyond customer’s and society’s expectations in order to deliver Market leading services wherever they are needed.  SGS helps enhance food safety and quality with a comprehensive and cost effective set of control solutions including audits testing inspection technical solutions and training.  These services can stand alone or be part of an integrated package to enhance food safety, quality and sustainable development.

SEMA members can contact John Miller at 931-652-8888 or email john.miller@sgs.com or Gary Ostrow at 561-613-1950 or email gary.ostrow@sgs.com

Welcome New Member

Winningham Meats Inc
1968 Cypress Campground Rd.  Ridgeville, SC 29472
Maxine Winningham
843.688.4289

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