Covid-19 contaminated meat carcasses are packaged, carried to consumers

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lawsuit-covid-19-contaminated-meat-carcasses-packaged-carried-to-consumers-225459717.html

• Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a non-profit physician’s group, is asking a federal court to immediately order meat and poultry processing plants to test their products for Covid-19, and make the results public.
  • PCRM is a group that advocates for reducing reliance on animals for scientific research and for preventative medicine, as well as monitors federal food policy.
  • The group asked for this mandate on Wednesday as they filed a lawsuit against the USDA.
• According to PCRM, the USDA rejected a petition in May asking to implement new meat and poultry testing requirements for Covid-19, as well as labeling to warn consumers that meat could carry the virus.
  • The USDA rejected the petition on the basis that PCRM failed to reference studies or show supporting information backing up its claim that coronavirus can be transmitted by meat and poultry products.
• PCRM feels that processing plants are vulnerable for disease spread because of workers being in close proximity each day with thousands of animal carcasses. They believe the virus is spread from workers to animal carcasses to the packaging and finally to the consumer when they purchase the meat.
• The physicians would like to see a label on packaging that warns consumers of U.S. meat and poultry processing facilities being greatly affected by the virus, and the product that they are purchasing is not certified virus-free.

How swapping plant-based products for meat may improve cardiovascular study

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Food/swapping-plant-based-products-meat-improve-cardiovascular-health/story?id=72348149&cid=clicksource_4380645_12_comic_strip_sq_hed

• A small study was recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition conducted by Stanford Medicine that swapped Beyond Meat for beef, pork, and chicken. The results showed that non-animal protein products lowered some cardiovascular risk factors.
  • The study was conducted with 36 participants over a 16-week period.
  • Participants saw a drop in LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol), reduced TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide, linked to cardiovascular disease) levels in some cases, and lost an average of two pounds.
• The real meat used in the study consisted of beef, pork and chicken products. The beef product used was 80% lean and 20% fat ground beef, the most common red meat product for most Americans.
  • ABC News medical unit resident Nate Wood, MD, stated that if other lean meat products with less saturated fats would have been used, the results may have been different.
• The study was funded by an unrestricted gift from Beyond Meat.

Central Stockyards acquires the Fed Cattle Exchange

• Central Stockyards acquired Fed Cattle Exchange, the only weekly fed cattle online auction, on July 24th. Lots of questions have been raised as to what this means for the cattle industry going forward. Folks are wondering how this acquisition will affect competition and if the leaders of Central Stockyards have too close of ties to NCBA.
• S. Cattlemen’s Association will be hosting a Q&A session with Central Stockyards’ President and CEO, Forrest Roberts, and Director of Operations, Surcy Peoples on August 18^th at 7:00 AM MDT. To join, dial 866-254-5984, no passcode needed.

Boxed beef prices

www.nationalbeefwire.com

• Choice boxed beef: $214.24 (+3.29)
  • $8.77 higher than last Friday’s close.
• Select boxed beef: $199.29 (+1.88)
  • $6.54 higher than last Friday’s close.