659418 Wed Oct 14 11:40:07 -0700 2009 15 33 Food Media and News 0 5102820 I was multitasking when I heard this on TV and am not sure whose ad it was - I'm thinking perhaps Wendy's - but thought the terminology was intriguing. Perhaps this is in reaction to U.S. consumers' fears about imported foods, courtesy of the problems with China-sourced food contamination, and/or to the NY Times article about the risk of E. coli in ground beef and the multiplicity of sources that may be represented in a single package of meat. "North" could do with a little parsing. I suspect that in this case it is hoped that consumers will think that is synonymous with the U.S. and perhaps Canada, which many Americans don't regard as a foreign country, and equate with "safe". But for these purposes it likely includes Mexico and perhaps Central America (countries north Colombia). There's a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. - often boiling down to anti-Mexican/Latino. Maybe I'm being too cynical, but the terminology struck me as xenophobic. Considering our expectation of year-round fresh produce availabilty, and the international sourcing of ingredients in processed foods, it is ridiculous to imply that "North American" is inherently superior to foreign-sourced. I believe that by including that phrase in the burger ad, the company was trying to make that distinction. Wed Oct 14 11:40:07 -0700 2009 159317 greygarious 1 5103345 I don't think it's a xenophobic to suggest that the more local the food, the better. That goes for meat as well as veggies. My guess is whichever chain this is is indeed hoping that people equate North American with US though. To be fair, even if the meat came from Canada I think they'd still go with the North American terminology. Wed Oct 14 14:35:43 -0700 2009 5102820 241661 gastrotect 1 5103573 North America is Canada, the United States and Mexico. Countries between Mexico and Colombia are Central America. We are a foreign country: we have public, socialised healthcare. ;-) I have zero desire to eat fastfood burgers, wherever they come from. There are much better burgers, and if short on cash, one can always make one's own; we do. Wed Oct 14 16:05:42 -0700 2009 5102820 84119 lagatta 2 5103593 I did search the definition before posting - depending on who's doing the defining, NA can include or exclude some or all of Central America, according to the charts on Wikipedia. I have no idea how much beef, if any, is imported from Central America. Wed Oct 14 16:13:42 -0700 2009 5103573 159317 greygarious 3 5104430 I think it's meant to instill a feeling that the beef is from Canada. We've had lots of U.S. publicity about the smelly and grotesque feedlots, etc. here. But maybe it IS meant to sneakily let us know that it's not from any of those "poor" countries where "foreigners" life...and don't speak English. Wed Oct 14 23:34:27 -0700 2009 5103593 10245 oakjoan 4 5105325 "I think it's meant to instill a feeling that the beef is from Canada." This is my feeling as well. I think if you ask most people from the states what countries are in N. America I'd be willing to bet less then 25% will include Mexico. I'm pretty certain the beef is coming from Mexico and this ad is just playing on the ignorance of the populace. Thu Oct 15 09:47:31 -0700 2009 5104430 10195 KTinNYC 5 5107473 Does Mexico have any significant beef export business? Fri Oct 16 06:18:40 -0700 2009 5105325 161386 kmcarr 6 5107630 I'm pretty certain Costco carries Mexican beef but I'm not sure how big the industry is over-all. A google search reveals this document http://albertabeef.org/res/cp-Fast%20Facts%20English%20Final%20Oct%2007.pdf which shows that Mexico was the 8th highest producer of beef in 2006. Fri Oct 16 07:23:41 -0700 2009 5107473 10195 KTinNYC 7 5108492 Thanks for the info, I wasn't sure myself and apparently your Google mojo is stronger than mine. Fri Oct 16 11:55:50 -0700 2009 5107630 161386 kmcarr 4 5105340 Lots of people here don't speak English. Thu Oct 15 09:51:27 -0700 2009 5104430 84119 lagatta 1 5107625 A fair amount of U.S. and Canadian beef has dual citizenship... The calf will be born in one country, spend part of it's life in the other, and then travel to be slaughtered in whatever country has capacity. The meat may then cross the border yet again before it hits your plate. NAFTA's great! Isn't it? G. Fri Oct 16 07:23:03 -0700 2009 5102820 120112 legourmettv 1 5108589 The irony is that a majority of the E. Coli outbreaks in the US are from American Beef. Fri Oct 16 12:28:44 -0700 2009 5102820 56054 dave_c 2 5108612 Wouldn't this have something to do with the fact that most beef consumed in the US also comes from the US? E Coli is found in the lower intestines of all warm blooded animals it's not limited to cows in the states. Fri Oct 16 12:38:55 -0700 2009 5108589 10195 KTinNYC 2 5163674 The US banned imports of Canadian beef for at least a year or more back around 2003, 2004, maybe longer after Mad Cow was found in Canadian cattle. One of them slipped across the US Northern border and started a panic. Japan and several other counties banned imports of Canadian beef for quite a while. It affected US exports until the source in Canada was isolated. E. coli can come from processing, but it can also come from poor sanitation and food handling. "Employees must wash hand after using the bathroom." Sat Nov 07 13:19:07 -0800 2009 5108589 32444 MakingSense 1 5162797 The commercial was Wendy's. Like you, when I heard the terminology I was intrigued but for different reasons. I remembered once looking it to the phrase 100% American Beef that McDonald's used on their ads and wrappers. Turns out it was a special classification of beef that allowed marketers claim 100% if their beef product used less then 30% filler. 60 minuets and 20/20 both did reports on this back in the early 90s. Fri Nov 06 23:40:09 -0800 2009 5102820 1122438 litenmyiz 2 5163079 That ad seems to have disappeared - wonder if that's because of another round of ground beef recalls. Or maybe, a la McDonald's and the NY Times, North American Beef translates as "guaranteed untested for E.coli". I made my first post-article trip to Costco and got their 88% lean ground beef ($2.29/lb) so as to support responsible meat-grinding plants. Sat Nov 07 07:28:29 -0800 2009 5162797 159317 greygarious