RESEARCH AD PROFESSIONAL BRIS first trimester, preconception nutrition education is very important. The pregnant women in our study, much like the pregnant teens studied by Skinner et al (21), appeared to have heard and responded to messages about the effects of calcium intake during pregnancy. If di- etitians can work together to develop clear, direct messages for improved in- takes of iron, zinc, folate, and vitamin B-6, perhaps the same effect may be seen with these nutrients. l This research wasfunded by the African American Institute, the University of Maine Association of Graduate Students and the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, publication no. 1791. copper retention during pregnancy: the ad- equacy of prenatal diets with and without di- etary supplementation. Am JClin Nutr. 1985; 41:1184-1192. 13. Hunt IF, Murphy NJ, Cleaver AE, Faraji B, Swendseid ME, Coulson AH, Clark VA, Laine N, Davis CA, Smith JC. 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JAm Diet Assoc. 1990; 90:543-549. 6. CSFII Nationwide Food Consumption Survey: Continuing Survey Of Food Intakes By Individuals. Low-income women 19-50 years and their children 1-5 years, day, 1985. Hyattsville, Md: Nutrition Monitoring Division, Human Nutrition Information Ser- vice; 1986. USDA Report No. 85-2. 7. CDC criteria for anemia in children and childbearing-aged women. MMWR. 1989; 32:401-404. 8. Rush D, Sloan NL, Leighton J, Alvir JM, HorvitzDG, SeaverWB, Garbowski GC, Johnson SS, Kulka RA, Holt M, Devore JW, Lynch JT, Woodside MB, Shanklin DS. The National WIC Evaluation: evaluation of the Special Supple- mentation Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children. V. Longitudinal study of preg- nant women. Am J Clin Nutr. 1988; 48:439- 483. 9. Butte NF, Calloway DH, Van Duzen JL, Nutritional assessment of pregnant and lactat- ing Navajo women. Am J Clin Nutr. 1981; 34:2216-2228. 10. Brennan RE, Kohrs MB, Nordstrom JW, Sauvage JP, Shank RE. Composition of diets of low-income pregnant women: comparison of analyzed with calculated values. J Am Diet Assoc. 1983; 83:538-545. 11. Endres JM, Poell-Odenwald K, Sawicki M, Welch P. Dietary assessment of pregnant ado- lescents participating in a supplemental food program. JReprod Med. 1985; 30:10-17. 12. Taper LJ, Olivia JT, Ritchey SJ. Zinc and Sensory qualities and nutrient retention of beef strips prepared by different household cooking techniques JING YANG, MS; AHMAD SULAEMAN, MS; BUDI SETIA WAN, MS; ATO ATUGHONU, MS; DAVID W GIRAUD, MS; JUDYA. DRISKELL, PhD, RD The sensory qualities and nutritive con- tent of foods, including meats, may be altered by household cooking tech- niques. Beef cuts are good sources of many nutrients that are frequently consumed in less than adequate quantities by Ameri- cans. These nutrients include vitamin B-6, iron, zinc, and perhaps magnesium (1,2). Consumption of the first three is a poten- tial public health issue (2). J. A. Driskell (corresponding author) is a professor, J Yang and A. Atughonu are graduate students, and D. W. Giraud is a research technologist in the Department of Nutritional Science and Dietetics at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0806. A. Sulaeman and B. Setiawan (formerly research interns at the University of Nebraska) are lecturers at the Institut Pertanian, Bogor, Indonesia. Stir-fry and microwave cooking of meat strips are convenient and increasingly popular methods of food preparation. The purpose of this study was to determine the sensory qualities and retention of selected nutrients of beef strips cooked by house- hold broiling, microwaving, and stir-frying methods. METHODS Beef top rounds, labeled US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Choice, were obtained from two sources and cut into 0.5x2.5x4- cm strips with no separable fat. Samples were stored at -4°C (25°F) for 24 to 48 hours before slicing and freezing. Beef strips, thawed to 5°C (41 0 F), from each source were cooked on three differ- ent occasions by stir-frying, microwaving, or broiling to medium doneness as indi- cated by internal temperatures of 71°C (160F) (3). Internal temperatures were measured using a probe placed in the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION / 199