A news release from the Food Safety Consortium says researchers at the University of Arkansas are close to finalizing development of a protective coating in packaging film that could prove effective against pathogenic bacteria. The coatings are applied to edible films that can be used on refrigerated and pre-cooked ready-to-eat meat and poultry products.

One such film is zein, a coating already used on candies, that scientists have found to be effective against pathogens on ready-to-eat chicken when bacteriocins were added to the coating.

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The General Accounting Office recently released a report stating that USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, the government agency that investigates anti-competitive behavior in cattle and hog markets, lacks the training and legal expertise to do the job. GAO states that the agency is "better positioned for performing economic analysis" than for developing cases to prove that anti-competitive practices have occurred.

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The Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the National Cattlemen's Foundation are offering more than $20,000 in cash scholarships and prizes to deserving college students pursuing careers in the beef industry.

Each of 16 students will be awarded $1250 and one will be selected to receive the top prize, an all-expense paid trip to the Cattle Industry Annual Convention and Trade Show in San Antonio in January.

Application deadline is November 27. More information is available fromt NCBA staffers Audrey Nixon or Walt Barnhart at (303) 850-3317 or (303) 850-3360, respectively.

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Dallas-based Supreme Beef Processors filed Tuesday for bankruptcy, blaming its problems on overzealous regulatory behavior by USDA.

Following its Chapter 11 filing, the company is expected to lay off 300 employees and close its fresh and frozen beef plants in Dallas and Ladonia, Texas. There are indications the company may re-open a vacant processing plant in Palestine following its reorganization.

Citing tests that found salmonella in three beef samples over a span of eight months, USDA last November withdrew its inspectors from the Supreme plants. That prevented the company from selling its product interstate, effectively closing down the plants.

Supreme sued the agency and won a ruling in its favor from U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish of Dallas. Fish ruled in May that USDA's salmonella tests did not prove that Supreme beef products were endangering the public — the agency has never linked any illnesses to Supreme's products — and termed USDA's actions arbitrary.

A fourth salmonella finding in June led USDA to appeal the court ruling and pressure Supreme Beef to suspend its ground beef operations.

Commenting on his company's bankruptcy filing, Supreme Beef CEO Steve Spiritas accused USDA of engaging in a "campaign of harassment, intimidation and disinformation against our company.

"We just cannot sustain a business with current policies that USDA is using against us in regards to inspection and testing," Spiritas added.