Meristem: Beef Science

From promoting 'healthy hamburgers' to boosting beef nutrition awareness, projects supported by the $9.25 million National Beef Industry Development Fund (NBIDF) have played a key role in BSE recovery for the Canadian beef industry.

"The public response was very positive," says Mike Cook, Beef Information Centre chairman. "As a result of these initiatives and the broader effort, Canada became the only country to increase domestic beef consumption following a BSE incident."

The competitiveness of the Canadian beef industry was changed dramatically in May of 2003, when a cow in Alberta tested positive for BSE. Canadian beef producers quickly lost export markets for beef products. That dictated an urgent need to develop the industry's domestic program for those beef products.

To address that need, the BIC developed a Commercial Beef Utilization Strategy, designed to increase the size of the commercial beef market domestically, increase market share within that domestic market, and add value to beef products through product innovation.

The strategy was delivered through more than a dozen different programs, including several backed by NBIDF funding. One of the NBIDF-supported projects was a 'healthy fast food hamburger program,' designed to improve Canadians' perception of the hamburger. In a separate effort, NBIDF also contributed to a BIC consumer nutrition campaign, aimed at increasing Canadians' awareness of the health value of beef.

The healthy fast food hamburger program showcased the benefits of hamburgers as a nutritious and convenient choice at fast food outlets, reaching over seven million Canadians through radio and television advertisements.

"We wanted to address the misconception that fast food burgers equal junk food and ultimately, obesity," says Lisa Mina, a registered dietitian and BIC's nutrition and food safety director. "A number of factors, such as lack of exercise, high consumption of energy-dense foods and genetics can contribute to an increase in weight. Ground beef itself has excellent nutritional qualities, and hamburgers, as well as other choices at fast food outlets are nutritious and part of Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating."

The consumer nutrition campaign pursued a similar approach. "The focus was to provide positive messages to strengthen consumer attitudes about the nutritional quality of beef," says Mina.

The campaign included development of a "Lean Beef" recipe booklet that was inserted in major consumer magazines in Quebec and Ontario - including Canadian Living, Chatelaine, and their French equivalents – reaching over one million subscribers. It was also made available in participating grocery stores nationally and promoted in national radio advertisements.

It also included the creation of a new nutrition program, 'Nutricast,' an innovative series of free, Web-based seminars. Nutricast was designed for dieticians and other health professionals who provide advice to consumers, media and government on nutrition and health.

"The various efforts showed Canadians they can feel good about eating beef," says Mina.

More information on the hamburger promotion and nutrition campaign projects is available in a new feature article, available on the NBIDF Web site, www.cattle.ca/NBIDF.

An overview of NBIDF progress, including summaries of several core projects is also available on the Web site, in NBIDF's Report to the Canadian Beef Industry. This Report was delivered as an insert in the January 2007 edition of Canadian Cattlemen magazine.

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Fund helped strengthen Canadian beef profile to aid BSE recovery