McDonald's Wants Traceback Now

[PORKER]

McDonald's Wants Traceback Now
Austrailia:Brisbane
Underpinning demand is consumer trust, said Gary Johnson, senior director of worldwide supply chain management at McDonald's Corp. (MCD), one of the world's biggest beef buyers.

"Consumer trust in the safety of the food they eat across the entire food chain including the proteins is the single most critical factor for our industry," he said.

Animal traceability is the most important thing the cattle industry can do to earn and keep the trust of consumers, he said.

The U.S. industry is lumbering towards adopting programs that can trace back retail beef to cattle on the farm, but not without some industry opposition - and considerable intransigence in some quarters.

Philip Seng, president and chief executive of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, said traceability isn't yet comprehensive in the U.S., which is a major beef exporter.

Traceability represents an opportunity to enhance export demand and is being gradually introduced in the industry, he said.

Roger Fletcher of Roger Fletcher International Pty. Ltd., Australia's biggest sheepmeat exporter, also wants traceback introduced more quickly in his industry, though this is likely to happen anyway within two years, providing protection for producers and consumers alike.

-By Ray Brindal, Dow Jones Newswires, 61 (0) 418 417 104

 

[PORKER]

Thats what www.ScoringAg.com does to the CEO's of meat suppliers.Go to the ScoringAg page above and click on Search,Then click on the SSI-EID bar and enter this code 006121368_3_3_4 for the ground round from this hamberger label :https://www.scoringag.com/Public/traceback_labels_and_sign.pdf

* This gives the consumer the data and knowledge of COOL and Type of beef and where it came from.

 

[mrj]

It strikes me that McDonalds could be an enormous force for good in this whole saga. If they realize, like most of you do, that the it is bad for the beef industry and for them that USDA and meat packers are managing BSE as a propaganda campaign versus root it out and re-establishing consumer confidence.

Reader2, How do you justify saying "USDA and meat packers are managing BSE as a propaganda campaign"? The fact is, that when the BSE problem in England became apparent many years ago, the ENTIRE beef industry, led by NCBA, went to work doing what was deemed necessary by the best science available to halt the problem. That included banning MBM, removing SRM's from animals specified as more at risk, testing (more than 660,000 to date) animals deemed most at risk, plus older, healthy animals possibly at risk due to their age. Yes, in large bureaucracies, there will be mistakes and glitches such as the infamous loopholes and the miniscule number of people who do not follow the rules. Those issues have continuously been addressed as they occur. The best of science says the beef from animals following the proper procedures is safe. But you know all that. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit your agenda against these entities, it seems.

There are MANY cattle producers and even several cattleproducer organizations who welcome animal ID like McDonalds' is asking for and probably soon will require. Many of us have been doing this for years, and I do not mean only hot iron branding. That serves a purpose, but is not at this time adequate for absolute trace-back across the USA, despite the propaganda one hears on the subject.

MRJ

 

[PORKER]

MRJ Quote:but is not at this time adequate for absolute trace-back across the USA, despite the propaganda one hears on the subject. ****************So Did you try the Most advanced traceback and recordkeeping system MRJ?????? I am selling the Most Advanced system in my state because it is the norm for many countrys and I picked this company back in 2002 for my personal farm operation.Why ,you ask,because the rest of the systems a nothing but a bunch of copycats systems and the Guys and Gals at ScoringAg have the backing of many countrys.

 

[Kenny Fox]

How is McDonalds going to be able to tell their customers where their hamburger came from when McDonalds is mixing meat from many different cows from manny countries? The way I understand the regulations from APHIS governing animal id is that all of the information that is gathered can only be used for animal health trace back and only animal health officials can acess this information. Therefore animal id is for animal health trace back not trace forward and will be of no use to McDonalds or consumers.

Kenny Fox

 

[theHiredMansWife]

It strikes me that McDonalds could be an enormous force for good in this whole saga. If they realize, like most of you do, that the it is bad for the beef industry and for them that USDA and meat packers are managing BSE as a propaganda campaign versus root it out and re-establishing consumer confidence.

McDonalds is a highly visible company that people know buys an enormous amount of beef. Consequently, they're frequently the target of consumer campaigns. Their position in the beef economy means they're under a lot of pressure between those two entities, consumers and the beef industry. However, because they are the biggest buyer of beef in our country, at least, it means they also exert a lot of pressure on their suppliers.

And what does any business usually do when their best customer is asking for a specific service?

 

[PORKER]

Kenny, if McDonalds wants these type of records then the RFID tags and records will be paid for as info passed on to the consumer as specified by McDonalds.They are paying higher prices for ID and source verified meats and produce that are raised within their specs.Money talks.

Now the NAIS id requirements is a horse of a different color .You are right on your thoughts:The way I understand the regulations from APHIS governing animal id is that all of the information that is gathered can only be used for animal health trace back and only animal health officials can acess this information.

 

[Econ101]

It strikes me that McDonalds could be an enormous force for good in this whole saga. If they realize, like most of you do, that the it is bad for the beef industry and for them that USDA and meat packers are managing BSE as a propaganda campaign versus root it out and re-establishing consumer confidence.

Reader2, How do you justify saying "USDA and meat packers are managing BSE as a propaganda campaign"? The fact is, that when the BSE problem in England became apparent many years ago, the ENTIRE beef industry, led by NCBA, went to work doing what was deemed necessary by the best science available to halt the problem. That included banning MBM, removing SRM's from animals specified as more at risk, testing (more than 660,000 to date) animals deemed most at risk, plus older, healthy animals possibly at risk due to their age. Yes, in large bureaucracies, there will be mistakes and glitches such as the infamous loopholes and the miniscule number of people who do not follow the rules. Those issues have continuously been addressed as they occur. The best of science says the beef from animals following the proper procedures is safe. But you know all that. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit your agenda against these entities, it seems.

There are MANY cattle producers and even several cattleproducer organizations who welcome animal ID like McDonalds' is asking for and probably soon will require. Many of us have been doing this for years, and I do not mean only hot iron branding. That serves a purpose, but is not at this time adequate for absolute trace-back across the USA, despite the propaganda one hears on the subject.

MRJ

Traceback that stops at the packer door is for packer purposes only.

The McDonald's argument, if verified, is a second tier attack that is being copied by the meat industry.

Traceback of McD's meat will not matter if bse tainted meat can be assured not to be in the mix--something that is currently outlawed by the USDA and that bse-tester's test would find.

 

[PORKER]

McDonalds Johnson reflected on the devastation wrought on the U.K. beef industry through the loss of public trust following the discovery in 1996 of mad cow disease - from which the industry is still recovering. "Any company that can't build and maintain their public trust doesn't have to worry about any other trend in the food industry - that company will simply not be in business any more," he said. Johnson congratulated the Australian industry for already adopting animal traceability.

"Thank you for your leadership," he said to an audience that included many Australian beef cattle industry leaders. The technology exists now to make traceability possible, while many agricultural and consumer groups around the world support the practice, he said. McDonald's spends more than US$14 billion on farm produce a year, including 1.1 million metric tons of beef and 1.4 million tons of French fries. Any extra expense to introduce traceability today represents an essential investment in the security of the future safety of the food supply, he said. "It's a down-payment on consumer trust that's going to pay big dividends for years to come," for producers, end users and consumers alike, Johnson said.

 

[PORKER]

Johnson reflected on the devastation wrought on the U.K. beef industry through the loss of public trust following the discovery in 1996 of mad cow disease - from which the industry is still recovering.
Mr. Johnson head of McDonalds Traceability Program said in a International speach "Any company that can't build and maintain their public trust doesn't have to worry about any other trend in the food industry - that company will simply not be in business any more," he said.

 

[Anonymous]

KF: "How is McDonalds going to be able to tell their customers where their hamburger came from when McDonalds is mixing meat from many different cows from many countries?"

Do you know this to be fact Kenny?

Do you know for fact that McDonald's source of hamburger is US beef blended with foreign beef?

The reason I ask is it was only a couple years ago that McDonalds was announcing CONSIDERING using imported beef in their ground beef blend. In the article they stated that their competition (Either Wendy's, Hardees, or Burger King) was already using foreign beef.

KF: "The way I understand the regulations from APHIS governing animal id is that all of the information that is gathered can only be used for animal health trace back and only animal health officials can acess this information. Therefore animal id is for animal health trace back not trace forward and will be of no use to McDonalds or consumers."

That may be the case with "M"ID but there is nothing to stop any company from supplying source verified beef. US Premium Beef and Angus Gene Net are already paying premiums for source verified beef. That has nothing to do with the government run "M"ID health program.


I too have a lot of questions about the logistics of McDonalds tracing the source of every dairy cow and cull beef cow that they process and whether tracing that source is justified. Much of McDonald's source of hamburger comes from US dairy cows.


~SH~

Scott Huber

 

[Econ101]

So, Japan doesn't trust the USDA/NCBA, and now McDonalds doesn't?

Gee, I wonder why.

Couldn't they have learned from the Brittish experience or does our domestic packing industry require we go down the same road?

 

[PORKER]

Meat firm pleads guilty to illegal meat sales
by Pete Hisey on 5/8/2006 for Meatingplace.com
Sierra Meat Co., Reno, Nev., pled guilty to charges it illegally sold kangaroo, bear and eel meat in violation of laws regulating the sale of wildlife meat. The sales took place at a Marina, Calif. plant, Carmel Meat Co., two years before Sierra bought the company. "Sierra Meat did not own that facility when it happened," a company spokesman said. The company agreed to pay a fine of $50,000 and serve a year of probation. Sierra maintained that had the case gone to trial, it would have won the case. "We want to get on with our life," said Richard Flocchini, vice president of Sierra, which had sales of about $90 million in 2005.

 

[Tam]

So, Japan doesn't trust the USDA/NCBA, and now McDonalds doesn't?

Gee, I wonder why.

Couldn't they have learned from the Brittish experience or does our domestic packing industry require we go down the same road?

Where does it say they don't trust the USDA/NCBA eCON? Maybe this is a case of them not trusting the US BEEF INDUSTRY as they don't seem to want to let anyone know WHERE IN THE US the beef really comes from. The only information they seem to want be known is what country the beef was imported from. And who's fault is that? Wasn't it R-CALF that bragged they got M"ID" taken out of the M"COOL" bill? Looks like McDONALDS on behalf of their consumers wants it put BACK. :wink: Is R-CALF going to give the Customer what they want like they did when Creekstone wanted to give the Japanese under age tested beef or are they going to stand in the way of implimenting a National ID system capable of traceback to US birthplace because they don't want to burden the US producer with the system or expence of implimenting it?

 

[Econ101]

So, Japan doesn't trust the USDA/NCBA, and now McDonalds doesn't?

Gee, I wonder why.

Couldn't they have learned from the Brittish experience or does our domestic packing industry require we go down the same road?

Where does it say they don't trust the USDA/NCBA eCON? Maybe this is a case of them not trusting the US BEEF INDUSTRY as they don't seem to want to let anyone know WHERE IN THE US the beef really comes from. The only information they seem to want be known is what country the beef was imported from. And who's fault is that? Wasn't it R-CALF that bragged they got M"ID" taken out of the M"COOL" bill? Looks like McDONALDS on behalf of their consumers wants it put BACK. :wink: Is R-CALF going to give the Customer what they want like they did when Creekstone wanted to give the Japanese under age tested beef or are they going to stand in the way of implimenting a National ID system capable of traceback to US birthplace because they don't want to burden the US producer with the system or expence of implimenting it?

Their actions speak louder than their words, Tam.

You really don't mind riding this ID thing to the ground but I have yet to hear how your ID system ever made it to the retail consumer.

If tested beef is good enough for Japan with Creekstone, why do we need the govt. bureaucracy of an animal ID program? The govt. is pathetic in their abilty to carry out their fucntions right now.