01/05/06 Healthy beef cookbook

Quick. What is the one predominant positive thought that comes to mind when the word "Beef" is mentioned? Maybe the famous catch phrase created by the Cattlemen's Beef Board and its beef check-off program as voiced by Sam Elliot, "Beef. It's what's for dinner". Now what might be the predominant negative thought about beef that comes to mind? Fatty and unhealthy, especially when comparing it to other protein products such as chicken. Beef is healthy in many instances, yet it must counter a public perception that it tastes great but has too much fat and calories. Debunking that myth is something the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and Cattlemen's Beef Board continually works on. And it may have found an avenue to demonstrate how healthy beef can be, thanks to a recent U.S.D.A. certification from research funded in part by beef check-off dollars. REESE: Thanks to U.S.D.A. certification of those twenty nine cuts of beef that certify as lean, we were able to partner with the American Dietetic Association and produce a healthy beef cookbook that contains 130 recipes. Most of them are full meal recipes, and they're built around the healthfulness of beef and the other ingredients in that meal. And Monte Reese of N.C.B.A. says what makes the designation, and the "Healthy Beef Cookbook" stemming from the designation, so important, is that the American Dietetic Association is a very willing participant in the creation of the cookbook. REESE: The American Dietetic Association does not hand out their endorsement lightly. And that we think is an indication to consumers with a tremendous amount of creditability that any doubts you had about beef's healthfulness can be dispelled with these recipes in this cookbook. And it's not just two or three. It's 130. Reese says the "Healthy Beef Cookbook", and research findings on lean cuts of beef, is part of a new advertising strategy focusing on both the nutritional and taste aspects of beef. And Reese adds the new campaign is also designed to counter some of the in roads chicken has made in the "we're the healthier protein" perception war. REESE: Now we're comparing some of those cuts with chicken's best product & the boneless, skinless chicken breast. We take a three ounce serving and yeah, you'll get a one gram more saturated fat with the beef, but for the one more gram you get six times the zinc, three times the iron, eight times the vitamin B-12, and the list goes on. Reese says public response to the "Healthy Beef Cookbook" has been positive since its release to bookstores this past fall.