Beef Industry Food Safety Council
 
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What is the Beef Industry Food Safety Council?



The Beef Industry Food Safety Council (BIFSCo) brings together representatives from all segments of the beef industry to develop industry-wide, science-based strategies to solve the problem of E. coli O157:H7 and other food borne pathogens in beef.

The Beef Industry Food Safety Council is coordinating a broad effort to solve pathogen issues, focusing on research and consumer education. This Industry Information Advisory is part of the Council's outreach to the entire food industry. Please share it with your employees and friends in the community, in schools, at sale yards and at other occasions where people want more information on this challenge to the industry.

Although industry segments may not always agree on all issues, it is critical we be united in our efforts to solve the E. coli O157:H7 problem.

We welcome your input. Send questions and comments to us through any of the participating BIFSCo organizations, or e-mail through the form at http://www.bifsco.org/Contact.aspx.

Introduction
Statement of Principle
Overview
Strategy
By-laws

Introduction

Food safety is nothing new to the beef industry. What is new is the collaborative effort of every segment from farm to table to find and develop new ways to bring each consumer the safest product available. Beef safety is more than an expectation, more than the effort of one single entity — it is the sum of the entire beef production system, from farm to table.

Beef safety has been and will continue to be a dominant feature of the beef industry. But food safety cannot be addressed without considering the route that beef makes to the consumer’s table. This food chain begins on the farm and extends through processors, distributors and ends with retail and food service establishments having direct contact with consumers. While important food safety trends are impacting the entire beef production system, the final dimension in meeting beef safety usually takes the form of optimizing the use of interventions and control points not only within individual segments but within the entire system as well.

For these reasons, the entire beef industry is serious about developing an effective science-based industry-wide approach. Every segment of the beef industry must unite behind effective programs aimed immediately at solving the problem of current food safety issues in the beef supply, and aimed longer-term at solving the problems presented by other hazards already existing or that may evolve in the future. The industry must also strive to align the programs and policies of the government to support and enhance these efforts. This effort requires everyone involved to rethink their current approaches to beef safety and adopt new measures and collaborative efforts designed to support a comprehensive system spanning from farm-to-table.

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Statement of Principle

The Beef Industry Food Safety Council is committed to developing industry-wide, science-based strategies to solve the problems of food borne pathogens in beef. The Council will accomplish this by identifying, funding and prioritizing research from farm to table; developing programs to help industry segments operate in today's business environment; speaking with one voice in seeking regulatory and legislative solutions; developing and implementing industry information programs to assist in the transfer of technology into the market place and providing pertinent, accurate and reliable information to consumers. .

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Overview

The U.S. beef industry is committed to producing safe food. Food safety issues will continue to generate the need for change, both to respond to public concerns and to provide policy makers with scientific data as a basis for sound, reasoned judgments. As new and creative foods become more common, continuing efforts will need a strong foundation to assess the complexity of interactions of food components as they relate to food safety.

To this end, the industry and the scientific community realize that further improvements can be made through a collaborative effort based upon:

The use of science-based pathogen intervention strategies to enhance sanitary processes that include effective and microbiological verifiable Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).
The principles of prevention and risk reduction from farm to table that include effective monitoring and intervention strategies.
The understanding by each segment of the beef food chain of the food safety risks affected by production and the steps needed to ensure a safe beef experience.
The beef industry believes that the optimal system will have a food safety net extending from farm to consumer. To this end, the Council was formed, made up of industry executives, beef producers, university and government scientists, industry association executives and experts that represent each segment in the beef food chain. This cooperative effort clearly displays a deep commitment to further action to enhance the safety of the Nation’s beef supply.

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Strategy

The Beef Industry Food Safety Council facilitates input from producers, packers, processors, distributors, restaurateurs and food retailers to form a coordinated frame of reference for action. The strategy of implementing a food safety plan must be responsive to the competitive and customer-driven dynamics of each segment. By matching the right objective with each segment, the beef industry builds on current safety efforts through an industry-wide strategy. Through these cooperative efforts, the industry gains access to enthusiasm, expertise and needed resources for strategy execution and implementation.

Today, the beef industry is challenged to recognize and address an expanding and increasingly complex food safety agenda that must serve an even more complex food delivery system. Meeting these new and complex needs requires both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary efforts.

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By-laws 

Organizational Statement

of the

Beef Industry Food Safety Council

 

  1. Mission    The Council’s mission is to promote understanding and solution of beef safety concerns through the lawful collaboration of beef industry participants.
     
  2. Constituents    The Council consists of Members, an Advisory Board and an Administrator.
     
  3. Members
     
    1. Composition    Members are beef industry participants who have paid the current Membership Fee.
       
    2. Function    The function of Members is to advance the Council’s Mission through exchange of information on beef safety, attendance of the Annual Safety Summit and active participation in a Council Standing Working Group for one of the following industry sectors: Production; Harvest/Fabrication; Processing; Retail; and Food Service.
       
  4. Advisory Board
     
    1. Composition     The Advisory Board consists of
       
      1. the Council Chair
         
      2. one representative from each of two Qualified State Beef Councils appointed by the Qualified State Beef Councils’ Advisory Committee
         
      3. one representative from each of the following organizations appointed by each: American Meat Institute, North American Meat Processors, National Meat Association, National Restaurant Association, Food Marketing Institute, U.S. Meat Export Federation, Southwest Meat Association, National Renderers Association, International HACCP Alliance, National Grain and Feed Association, American Feed Industry Association, American Meat Science Association.
         
      4. two members from each of the Standing Working Groups appointed by each
         
      5. one representative from the USDA Agriculture Research Service
         
      6. up to four additional representatives at large appointed by the Council Chair (with no voting rights)
         
      7. the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Industry Beef Safety Committee
         
    2. Function    The functions of the Advisory Board are to:
       
      1. oversee the Council’s affairs
         
      2. organize and conduct the Annual Safety Summit
         
      3. assign Members to the Standing Working Groups
         
      4. appoint the chairs of the Standing Working Groups
         
      5. establish an annual budget for the Council’s affairs and set the Annual Safety Summit Participation Fee at a level sufficient to fund the Council’s activities
         
  5. Administrator
     
    1. Composition    The Administrator is the Beef Safety Research Division of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
       
    2. Function    The Administrator, under the direction of the Council Chair, staffs the Council’s activities.
       
  6. Antitrust Compliance    The Council is committed to compliance with all requirements of the antitrust laws and to this end acknowledges:
     
    1. the antitrust laws forbid certain arrangements among competitors including agreements to fix prices, allocate customers or markets or boycott particular suppliers.
       
    2. each industry participant must act independently in deciding what price to charge for its products, and to whom and under what terms and conditions it will do so.
       
    3. the antitrust laws forbid an assembly like the Council from acting as a facilitator of prohibited relationships.
       
    4. as a matter of prudence, the Council will redirect discussions or exchanges of information if they inadvertently enter a forbidden area.

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      Beef Industry Food Safety Council