NEWS ROUNDUP 1999-08-30 (2)

FMI, IFT Form Safety Partnership

ting Institute, here, and the Institute of Food Technologists, Chicago, have formed a partnership designed to enhance and promote food-safety education programs throughout the retail food industry, and to facilitate the exchange of information about food marketing.

The new partnership will enhance and promote food safety for retailers; act as an authoritative source of scientific and technical information; improve channels for dissemination of scientific and other information about food-safety issues; and provide a forum for the exchange of information and ideas.

Initial retail-level issues the new partnership will focus on include irradiation, time/temperature controls and microbial risk assessment, said FMI officials.

Corn-Fed Beef Label Debuts

OMAHA, Neb. -- The retail meat case may soon be displaying meat with on-pack labels specifying the cut as "Nebraska Corn-Fed Beef," part of a new program designed to improve beef's commodity image in an increasingly brand-driven market, according to the Corn-Fed Beef Council, one of a number of producer groups looking for ways to boost beef consumption.

The label, which also includes the images of a cowboy and the state's emblem, indicates that the meat is higher in quality and taste because it was sourced from cattle raised under strict feeding standards, and tracked from birth through slaughter. Success will depend on whether consumers seek out the label in the meat case, and express willingness to pay more for it, said council officials.

Currently, the labeled products are marketed only through mail-order operations, but organizers want to move quickly -- possibly by year's end -- into the food-service and retail segments.

Besnier USA Changes Name

NEW YORK -- Following the January 1999 name change of its parent company -- from Compagnie Laitere Besnier to Groupe Lactalis -- Besnier USA has altered its own name to Lactalis USA.

The change coincides with the completion of Lactalis USA's acquisition of Simplot Dairy Products, a cheese producer with operations in Idaho, Wisconsin and Washington state. As part of this change, Simplot will change its name to Sorrento Lactalis.

The new Lactalis USA division includes Sorrento Cheese Co. and Sorrento Lactalis, operating nine manufacturing facilities that produce cheese products under the President, Sorrento, Bella Gento and Swiss Village labels, among others. Annual sales of the company topped more than $800 million last year.

DMI Develops Seven Seminars

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Dairy Management Inc. here has developed a series of seven marketing seminars designed to boost retail dairy sales.

Developed in conjunction with Willard Bishop Consulting, Barrington, Ill., the Dairy Educational Series is based on two recent studies -- most recently, DMI's "Understanding How to Drive Dairy Department Performance," conducted in 1997.