ahead of the curve

While catching up on my morning emails, I stumbled across this article from MeatingPlace: 

GNP Launches Chicken Sausage Line.  I literally laughed out loud, then called GNP out for stealing my novel idea, and reverted to myself as a genius clearly ahead of my time!  

All of these clearly rational thoughts and ideas, as you may remember from a previous blog, are a result of the product I developed in my processed meats course this semester.  Myself being innovative and consumer driven decided to put forth efforts in creating a Cajun Chicken Sausage.  A product that would provide flavor and a healthier alternative to pork and beef RTE products.  So now, only after being out of class for one week and basking in successful product development, I am baffled that my idea paralleled that of a national company in providing poultry products: Gold 'n Plump.

Behind their innovation GNP developed a few lines of chicken sausages: Parmesan Italian,  Hot Italian Chicken Sausages, Chicken Brats and Apple Maple Chicken Breakfast Links. **Note the absence of a Cajun sausage--guess their is still room for the initiation of my product to the marketplace! Products should soon be available in the fresh meat sections of grocery stores nationwide selling for $4.49 to $5.99 per package. A price similar to what I "projected" my product to be sold for.  

Behind the development of their product, GNP wanted to produce a healthier to pork and beef selections of brats and sausages, but wanted to maintain good flavor, variety, and convenience.  Their product is made from 100 percent, boneless, skinless thigh meat, again similar to the product I developed (you see where I am gathering the genius notion from).  Because of the lean meat ingredient, the chicken sausages contain 50 percent less fat than most pork varieties, according to the company. The products contain 4.5 to 8 grams of fat and 100 to 180 calories per serving, meeting the needs of GNP customers.  Further the new sausages are also gluten-free and nitrate-free, and three of the four are also dairy-free providing a "natural" type product that is limited of allergen causing agents.  Now I must admit that GNP provides an "edge" to their product in this realm of production.  But that doesn't mean there is room for my product in the marketplace!!!

The most comical thought from this whole situation is the fact I told Chasen I wanted to start raising a few chickens-mainly to gather eggs everyday.  But now, after this whole ordeal, I am thinking I need to raise broiler chickens (I'm talking hundreds), get a large meat grinder and stuffer and start marketing my own line of poultry processed products!!  Although I am a beef girl at heart, one can honestly see there is money to be made here!!  


But on second thought, I guess I could sell my "secret Cajun recipe" to the folks at GNP and get paid for less involvement....or I could just print off my recipe for the sausage and serve the Cajun goodness to family and friends while sharing my "fishing story" of Cajun chicken sausages persay.  And after thinking rationally for a moment, I think I may just do that!

may day

Yesterday marked the first day of May, which may not be a shock to most of you, but for this girl it was.  For some reason this year continues to fly by faster and faster as the months go on....maybe it's because we are getting married in 86 days, or that I defend my thesis in 45 days, or that I will graduate in a little over 3 months.  Regardless yesterday was the first day of May, and also marked the celebration of May Day. 


Other than it being the first day of May, I did not know of "May Day" until last spring when my one of my friends presented me a May Day basket.  Now I am not complaining one bit considering the basket was full of Mike & Ikes (my favorite candy) and popcorn, but I must admit I was quite bewildered that I had never heard of May Day before!  Was I missing out on a great American celebration, a day off from work, or a reason to send friends and families cards?!?  So I did a little researching and here is what I found:::

May Day is an ancient Northern Hemisphere spring festival from Celtic and Germanic origin.  In Europe it is celebrated as a public holiday (lucky them!). Traditionally May Day was a summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. February 1 marked the first day of spring, and May 1 marked the first day of summer; hence the summer solstice on June 25 (now June 21) marked mid summer.  Because of Roman Catholic tradition celebrating May as Mary's month, small "May baskets" evolved as a tradition.  These baskets full of sweets and flowers were commonly left anonymously on neighbors doorsteps, or in my case presented with a card asking to be a future bridesmaid haha. 


Essentially this holiday has a much larger presence in European cultures with parades, festivals, and most importantly days off work!  However, the beginning of May, in my personal opinion, can still be celebrated in the US because May is National Beef Month!  In the next few weeks as you travel to the grocery store, remember that beef is a naturally nutrient-rich food providing protein, iron, zinc and B-vitamins and makes a great meal for a young and growing families.  Also when you are looking at the wide variety of high quality and safe beef products offered here in the US, envision the individual beef producers that made that product available to you.  Today's farmers and ranchers are the original environmentalist that work to conserve soil and water quality, using natural resources optimally to preserve the land for future generations.  Today's cattle producers also care deeply for their cattle and make sure they are comfortable and provided with adequate nutrition daily.  I am so proud to say that I grew up with a great cattleman and am looking forward to starting a new life with another :)

Consequently, May is also national Egg month, so again in my personal opinion, makes a perfect occasion for steak and eggs-Chasen's favorite breakfast (If he reads this post, I guess I have my work cut out for me this next weekend!).  


So if you didn't have the opportunity on the first of May, celebrate tonight!  Fire up the grill for some delicious beef, and be thankful for the producers that supplied you with that high quality and safe product!

quick as a whip

Last week it was announced that a 10 yr old dairy cow in California was diagnosed with BSE.  Due to the high surveillance system cattle producers currently practice here in the US, the animal did not enter the food chain, thus eliminating the chance of developing illness in humans.  However, due to the reaction from media attention, some consumers both domestic and international, had some concerns in regards to the safety of the product.  These concerns are mainly a result of mis-information or consumers that are uneducated about BSE.


BSE, defined as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (yes I know it is a mouth full), also known as the derogatory "mad cow disease", is a degenerative neurological disease in cattle that is caused by misfolded proteins (called prions) that build up in the central nervous system (CNS) in cattle and eventually kill nerve cells.  Because BSE is a degenerative disease it causes the animal to lose control of normal locomotion, thus causing the animal to move in an un-coordinated fashion and makes the animal look "mad".  BSE is in a class of TSE (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies) and could be compared to Scrapies in sheep, Chronic Wasting disease in deer, and Kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.  


These diseases are ONLY transmitted when CNS tissue from an infected animal is consumed.  By consuming the nervous tissue, the prions present cause proteins in a healthy animal to become misfolded and distorted.  Once this mode of transmission was discovered, the feeding of animal proteins to livestock was banned in the US in 1997.  Because of this ruling, the USDA has claimed this an atypical case of BSE and assumed the prion naturally developed in the animal; likely a result of genetic mutations.

Because of the ability for the prions to be transmit among species by consumption, humans are also able to develop degenerative symptoms.  This is the main reason why consumers become leery during a BSE diagnosis.  In humans variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease can be a result of consuming beef contaminated with BSE, but is more likely due to corneal transplants, other tissues, or blood transfusions from infected donors.  Since 2006 there have been 3 vCJD cases in the US and none of those cases have been linked to the consumption of beef contaminated with BSE. 

Those things considered, this past week the USDA as well as the US beef industry have assured consumers that US beef remains safe because: 


1.  The animal did NOT enter the food chain
2.  TSE's are ONLY transmissible through the consumption of nervous tissue, not meat or milk
3.  The animal did NOT enter the food chain
4.  In US packing plants all CNS tissue is removed from beef carcasses immediately after slaughter and sorted into in-edible product
5.  The animal did NOT enter the food chain


I have to commend the USDA and the beef industry for handling this situation with poise.  I received an email notification of the BSE diagnosis announcement at 1:00 last Thursday afternoon.  When I checked my Twitter feed at 1:45, "mad cow" was already trending, and to my surprise it was all positive, educational comments from credible sources.  


In agriculture we may be slow to change, but we learn from our mistakes.  From the "pink slime" controversy we have become aware of the importance of social media and educating our consumers, and we have turned that into positive progress for our industry!