NAMI Foundation North America Meat Institute

The North American Meat Institute Foundation (NAMIF) is a non-profit research, education and information foundation established by the North American Meat Institute. NAMIF seeks to identify technologies and practices that enable meat and poultry companies to produce safer and more nutritious meat and poultry products. The Foundation also provides resources to consumers to empower them with information to select and prepare safe and nutritious meat and poultry products for their families.

Formed by the merger of the American Meat Institute Foundation (AMIF) and the North American Meat Association’s Meat Research and Outreach Foundation in 2015, the North American Meat Institute Foundation (NAMIF) seeks to to build on the rich legacy of its predecessor organizations. NAMIF is a strong, unified Foundation focused on helping the industry meeting the challenges of the future.

AMIF had a rich history dating back nearly 70 years. In 1944, the Institute established the first AMI Foundation, complete with a commercial laboratory, on the University of Chicago campus in Chicago, Illinois. From 1944 until the late 1970s, the Foundation invested millions in research projects examining meat processing, safety and nutrition for the industry. When the American Meat Institute moved to Washington, DC, in the 1970s, the Foundation was phased out. By 1992, the need for a solutions-focused research foundation became clear and AMIF was re-launched.

In 1999, AMIF launched a multi-million dollar, multi-year Food Safety Initiative with the goal of: reducing Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 in meat and poultry products. In 2004, the research priorities were expanded to include Salmonella. The scope of the E. coli research priorities was broadened in 2006 to include additional Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.

Since 1999, more than $8 million in research grants have been awarded for projects that show promise in advancing food safety.

Today, NAMIF provides research grants to universities, private institutions, non-profit organizations and other foundations. NAMIF disseminates research findings, knowledge and best practices through briefings, workshops and other industry communication efforts.

NAMIF focuses its priorities on areas the meat and poultry industry deems most critical. These include microbiological food safety, animal welfare, hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP), worker safety, nutrition and environmental concerns.

The NAMIF Research Advisory Committee comprised of technical representatives from NAMI member companies, government and university researchers. Each year the committees establish priorities for each target research area as well as emerging food safety concerns.

NAMIF offers both annual conferences that meat and poultry companies rely upon for educating their employees, as well as timely briefings created in response to new challenges.

Annual conferences include the Worker Safety, Health and the Environment Conference, Animal Care & Handling Conference, Annual Meat Conference and Meat and Poultry Research Conference. Multiple workshops are held each year on Listeria intervention and control, ground meat and poultry safety and on other challenges that arise, like allergen control and animal disease concerns.

Providing information to media and consumers is an important function for the Foundation. NAMIF regularly briefs media on scientific issues. In addition, NAMIF develops materials to educate consumers like the Ask the Meat Scientist video series, which reaches consumers on a variety of timely topics from proper cooking to proper portion size.

The Foundation is managed by the North American Meat Institute and governed by a Board of Directors who meet twice a year to review progress and identify future strategies.

The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) funded entirely through contributions.