More in Beef Safety

U.S. beef consumption has remained strong despite attacks questioning the safety of lean trimmings in hamburger, according to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack....More

For those who thought it was impossible for packers, retailers and foodservice operators to agree on much of anything, the soon-to-be-released Beef Quality Audit may come as a surprise. Indeed, as cattle producers have largely solved many of the problems that spurred the launch of the audit back in 1991, other, more current concerns have surfaced. Here’s a sneak peek....More

Tyson Foods, operator of the largest packing plant serving Iowa cattle producers, reported a $10-million increase in net income to $166 million for the second quarter, but said its beef business ran a $1-million operating loss. The beef loss, caused by high cattle prices and flat demand, made worse by the controversy in March over lean finely textured beef (LFTB) in social media, was offset by operating profits of $115 million for pork and $145 million for chicken....More

You wouldn’t normally expect to find a thick red steak quietly pulsating in an oversized Petri dish inside a laboratory. But such is the hype around the team scheduled to produce the world’s first lab-grown cut of meat due out this October that I can’t help but imagine it....More

Out of nowhere, a decades-old practice of putting lean finely textured beef (LFTB) to good use has exploded as a hot news story, showing just how sensationalism collides with nutrition science — and what is or is not, actually, news in the first place....More

Although interest in beef production is high, in part because of record-high prices that producers have been fetching, some producers have concerns about rising prices for food and gasoline, which could make consumers less likely to buy pricey cuts, says an Ohio State University (OSU) Extension expert....More

There are days when working in the field of agriculture can be downright depressing.  On those days, it seems like the whole world is against you. There have been more of those days than is normal in the past few weeks. The manufactured media hysteria over lean finely textured beef has spawned a feeding frenzy among  journalists, bloggers and activist groups....More

Consumer groups are troubled by a beef controversy related to lean finely textured beef (LFTB) - but not in the way you'd expect. At Consumer Federation of America (CFA), there's regret the "yuck factor" has drowned out the science behind LFTB....More

Governors and lieutenant governors from Texas, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota came together to defend the safety and nutrition of lean finely textured beef (LFTB). The group took a walking tour of the Sioux City, NE, BPI facility that produces the product, which was followed by a lively press conference that was also attended by Under Secretary for Food Safety Elizabeth Hagen, STOP President Nancy Donley and Gary Acuff, Ph.D., director of the Center for Food Safety at Texas A&M University....More