Executive Summary

Beef production within the EU region is an activity of major economic importance, valued at €75 billion. However, reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy, increased globalisation, reduced commodity prices and an increasingly sophisticated, health-conscious consumer are requiring the industry to produce beef and beef products that are convenient, traceable, nutritious and of consistent quality. Alongside these considerations, today's consumer demands assurances regarding food safety and health, which is of paramount importance given the serious impact of beef related health scares. In order to boost consumer trust and invigorate the industry, ProSafeBeef is examining new ways of reducing contaminants in the beef chain from 'farm to fork' as well as enhancing quality, choice and diversity.

To address these critical issues in the beef chain, the following scientific and technological objectives of ProSafeBeef are:

• To apply the tools of quantitative risk assessment to reduce microbial and chemical hazards along the beef chain (fork-to-farm) in order to maximise beef safety and enhance consumer confidence.
• To develop novel and innovative control and intervention strategies for implementation along the beef chain (fork-to-farm) to ensure the safety of beef and beef products.
  
• To satisfy consumer demand for choice and both invigorate and add value to the beef chain (fork-to-farm) by developing innovative beef processing techniques and innovative beef products that are safe, attractive to the customer and of high nutritional quality.
• To engage with SME's, expert collaborators from third countries and INCO partners with a vested interest in beef export to assist in delivery of the ProSafeBeef project.
• To transfer technologies and disseminate information from the RTD and ITD Pillars in the ProSafeBeef to the end users and wider stakeholders in the beef industry.

These activities will permit ProSafeBeef to deliver to the beef industry a toolbox of strategies to reduce microbiological and chemical contaminants in the beef supply chain through an integrated fork-to-farm framework approach, and to develop a range of novel products that are safe, convenient, of high quality and attractive to the consumer.

The executive summary serves as a brief overview of the activities of the project. To download any of these please click below:

• Please click here to download our Executive Summary Year 1
• Please click here to download our Executive Summary Year 2
• Please click here to download our Executive Summary Year 3