Smaller processors have done well despite the economy, but more challenges lay ahead.

The year 2011 has passed, and many processors are sad to see it go. Even with the economic uncertainty that has plagued the United States for several years, many companies in this industry reached record sales figures and operating income.

The beef industry has been focused on dealing with E. coli O157:H7 since the 1993 Jack in the Box outbreak. Researchers at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) have been conducting studies since then to help the industry reduce the risk of this pathogen ending up in beef products.

Even with the current economic struggles, retailers and restaurant operators are finding growth opportunities.

Fall is in full swing. Leaves are changing colors. You can smell a fire burning on a crisp evening and hear in the distance a high school marching band playing beneath the Friday night lights.

According to research conducted on behalf of The Beef Checkoff, 96 percent of consumers eat beef. The top factors that drive beef demand are things such as taste, nutritional value and safety of our products.

More further-processors are turning to NAMP and other meat and poultry associations for education and training on how to respond to the recent FSIS action declaring the “Big 6” non-O157 STECs as “adulterants.”

The landscape of food packaging is continuously observed, analyzed and discussed from countless angles — materials, formats, platforms, hot technologies, cost, environmental impact, and the list goes on.

In the United States, there are approximately 70,000 sheep producers, which produce about 200 million pounds of lamb each year for the U.S. market.

State of the Industry: More veal on menus.