Another Consideration

[kato]

Maybe this should have it's own thread, but since it's something Big C is pursuing, I'll put it here.

"I do not mean to argue here that all American beef cattle must be tested. There may be American consumers who prefer inexpensive beef. But the U.S. meat companies that want to perform blanket testing should at least be given the freedom to do so, just as Japanese consumers should be allowed to pursue food safety as a priority in their lives.

from Teruhiko Mano, a professor at Seigakuin University,Japan "

Now, if the Americans want to sit and twiddle their thumbs on this, maybe we should be pushing even harder to have Canadians step up to bat.

Has anyone from Canada even spoken to the Japanese?

From what I hear, Japan is still insisting that the Americans guarantee no Canadian beef. We all know how good the Americans are at keeping promises, so I have a bad feeling we are going to be shut out again.

Anyone who gets between America and it's profits is in deep trouble.

[cowman]

That deal where Cargill bought out Caravel Meats is sort of scary! Caravel meats is not some sort of minor player...at one time they supplied all the beef patties for Wendys and MacDonalds in Canada! Not sure if that is still true?
So what would happen if beef producers built their own cow killing plant? Would they be at the mercy of Caravel meats or would they add their own processing plant to make patties? Of course how it works is you need a certain amount of fat to mix with the cow/bull meat to get an acceptable/cost effective product? Who is going to supply the trim? IBP perhaps?
IBP was probably the largest cow killer in Canada before BSE. If the regulations change back and they can resume killing cows, I expect they will? After all cows were their bread and butter...pre BSE?