The California Beef Council got its views out through social media and other online tools. Its home page declares, "Join the 'I [heart] Beef' discussion on Facebook, follow the California Beef Council on Twitter, watch our beef industry videos on YouTube, and view our pictures on Flickr."

The National Cattlemen's Beef Assn. had established its BSEInfo.org site to gets its views on the disease out to the public, and it encouraged its Twitter followers to "push factual information out to the public."

"Our strategy has and always will be to deal with sound science on these issues," said the association's communications chief, Daren Williams.

"That's the bottom line. But we've adjusted our strategy accordingly to adapt to whatever latest communications vehicle helps us get accurate information to consumers the quickest."

 Click here to read the full article in the Los Angeles Times.