STUDY: VITAMIN E STRENGTHENS BEEF VALUE

PAMELA BLAMEY

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- A new study has confirmed what Gary Smith, a professor with the Department of Animal Sciences at Colorado State University here, has known for several years: adding vitamin E to the diets of cattle can significantly increase the value of beef at retail.

However, new research gives details about a concern that has long been linked with the concept: how much -- and whom -- will it cost?

The main benefit of vitamin E supplements is that meat retains color and freshness longer.

"We've done a series of studies in Iowa, which follow beef through Monfort to Safeway stores," said Smith, who began researching the concept about five years ago.

U.S. retail participants in the latest round of research were Kroger, Holiday Plus, Scolari's, Tops and Safeway-Colorado, according to Smith, while beef companies included Harris in California; Monfort in Greeley, Colo., and IBP in Amarillo, Texas.

"There are cuts of meat that turn dark faster than others when you put them out in the retail case, [either] because of bacteria or normal chemical changes on the muscle.

"We're so clean in retail stores these days, that really the thing that makes most cuts turn dark is running out of the substances inside the muscle that enable it to keep its color. Animals that are fed grass all their lives keep their color more than the ones that are fed grain, which doesn't contain much vitamin E compared to grass. So what we're doing is just bringing the level of vitamin E up in the diet to what it would be if the animals fed on grass or forage or silage.

"We're just putting back something we've taken out."

In the newest study, researchers examined beef from animals with and without vitamin E supplements.

Results from all the retailers who participated will be revealed at a Jan. 13 and 14 meeting in San Antonio, to which retailers, suppliers and feeders will be invited.

"[The results are] very exciting to us," said Smith. "They show that for 220 to 240 pounds of retail products generated from the carcass, there is going to be an increase in value to the meat market manager of somewhere between $25 and $50 per pound.

"We'll know for certain [what the profit margins are] and be able to talk about each of the specific kinds of cuts, in San Antonio."

Smith sees two possible applications for the process. "We can use [it] to try to lower the price of beef so that it is more competitive with pork and poultry, or we could use it to make the supermarket more profitable in that sector of the store."

Although the initial studies on vitamin E supplements emerged three years ago, as SN reported at the time, there was a need for further research, so Hoffman-LaRoche, Nutley, N.J. approached its current partner -- the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Englewood, Colo.

"About a year and a half ago, we began to talk to NCBA about the need to sponsor a study large enough that when we're through and have the results, we can invite packers, feeders and retailers to a meeting, no holds barred, and tell each of the sectors what they need to do, and talk about the financial remuneration for having done this," said Smith.

As always, cost is a major concern, and the NCBA and Hoffman LaRoche are trying to obtain accurate estimates.

"We wanted the feeders to tell us how much they thought it cost them, packers how much it cost them, then tell retailers how much in terms of monitoring the product in stores. We now have preliminary figures -- our economists were brought in at a Sept. 15 meeting, and are now checking with others in the industry, to make sure we know what the real costs are," Smith said.

Although shelf life will only be extended by a limited amount of time, it's enough to make a difference to consumers, Smith said.

"It's not going to be an enormous change -- maybe six to eight hours for ground beef, a day or two for dry cuts -- but it will allow the consumer to take it home and put it in the refrigerator and a day later it will still have bright color.

The next challenge will be to determine the degree of acceptance of vitamin E supplements throughout the chain, from feeders to packers to retailers. Smith sees scenarios for both industrywide, mandatory use and more individualized arrangements through strategic alliances.

"It will work either way, but we see enormous benefits for retailers, saying 'we will be able to sell more of your beef if it is supplemented in this way.

"It's up to retailers to determine what they can pay for the technology and [initiate its use.] I think it will work if the retailers realize how much advantage is associated with it, and after the meeting when they negotiate with the packer and say, 'Is there any way that you can get me some of this stuff so we can try it?' "

Even if the idea is embraced with enthusiasm, it will take a while for the product to be available at retail, pointed out John Wilson, Hoffman LaRoche senior technical marketing manager.

"The [animal] has to be fed for 100 days -- there's a time lag issue involved with that. Once [retailers] decide that they want to use the product, they can't have it tomorrow. It's a fairly monumental change, it's big investment for feeders, and revolutionary."