These API Terms and Conditions (the "API Terms") relate to the BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com website (the "Site"), are supplemental to the Site’s Terms, and govern your access to and use of the Site’s application programming interfaces (the "APIs").
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Relationship to Site’s Terms
These API Terms are incorporated into and form part of the Site’s Terms and govern your access to and use of the APIs, documentation, datasets, media, and any accompanying materials (collectively, the “Services”). Capitalized terms used herein have the meanings given to them in the Terms. Terms such as “we”, “us”, and “our” refer to the Beef Checkoff and NCBA collectively. If there is a conflict between the Terms and these API Terms, these API Terms will control solely with respect to access and use of the APIs.
By using or accessing the APIs, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these API Terms. If you are using the APIs on behalf of an organization, you represent and warrant that you have authority to bind that organization.
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Purpose and Scope of APIs
The Site’s APIs provide structured access to curated content including:
- Recipe data (titles, ingredients, instructions, nutrition, and metadata);
- Beef cut information (names, categories, cooking recommendations, descriptions, and identifiers); and
- Associated photography and media (cut charts, recipe images, and promotional imagery).
The above are individually and collectively referred to as “Materials”. The APIs are intended for educational, informational, and non-misleading promotional use that supports consumer and culinary awareness of beef products.
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License and Authorized Use
Subject to your registering for an API key and/or any other requirements that NCBA deems appropriate, and subject to their Documentation, which you agree to be bound by,
NCBA, for itself and on behalf of the Beef Checkoff, grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the APIs solely for the purpose of developing or operating applications, websites, or tools that:
- Display or otherwise utilize Materials in good faith and consistent with the Beef Checkoff’s mission;
- Clearly identify BeefItsWhat’sForDinner.com as the data source when displaying Materials; and
- Comply with all applicable laws and the Terms and these API Terms.
You may not:
- Copy, reproduce, redistribute, sublicense, or commercially exploit Materials (including metadata) except as permitted under this license;
- Cache or store large volumes of Materials or other Site data for offline or redistributive use without written authorization from us;
- Use Materials for advertising, resale, or merchandise;
- Alter or remove BeefItsWhat’sForDinner trademarks, logos, watermarks, or attribution text;
- Represent our proprietary data as your own or suggest endorsement by us;
- Access the APIs in a manner that interferes with, degrades, or circumvents rate limits or authentication controls; or
- Use the APIs or any outputs derived from the APIs, directly or indirectly, to develop, train, test, fine-tune, validate, or improve any artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, or similar models, including foundation models or large language models, without our prior written consent.
We may suspend or terminate your access to the APIs at any time, without notice, for any conduct that violates the Site’s Terms or these API Terms or which we deem harmful to the Beef Checkoff, NCBA, our partners, or the integrity of the APIs. Upon termination, you must cease all use of the APIs and delete any cached Materials.
- Ownership and Attribution
All Materials delivered through the APIs are owned by or licensed to the Beef Checkoff and are protected by intellectual property laws. No ownership rights are transferred to you through use of the APIs.
If you publicly display or otherwise distribute API-derived Materials, you must clearly and conspicuously include attribution substantially in the following form:
Source: BeefItsWhat’sForDinner.com. Used with permission of but not endorsement by the Beef Checkoff. “Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner.” is a registered trademark of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
Photographic Materials must retain embedded metadata and may not be altered to remove copyright or ownership information.
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Privacy and Data Collection
The APIs do not intentionally collect or transmit personally identifiable information (“PII”) from end users. However, when you register for an API key or use authenticated endpoints, we may collect limited technical data (such as IP addresses, usage logs, and request statistics) to ensure service integrity.
You agree to:
- Use any collected user or request data solely for legitimate operational purposes;
- Implement reasonable safeguards to protect any data you handle; and
- Comply with all applicable data protection and privacy laws.
Our Privacy Policy applies to all API interactions.
- API Access, Rate Limits, and Modifications
We reserve the right to impose or modify rate limits, usage quotas, or access keys at any time. We may update, modify, or discontinue any endpoint or dataset at our discretion without prior notice.
You are responsible for ensuring that your implementation handles such changes gracefully.
- Disclaimer of Warranties
THE APIs AND ALL RELATED CONTENT ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS.
WE MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, RELATED TO THE APIs, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.
WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY DATA RETURNED BY THE APIs.
- Limitation of Liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, OR USE) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE APIs, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
- Termination
NCBA may suspend or terminate your access to the API at any time, without notice, for any conduct that violates these Terms or is deemed harmful to NCBA, its partners, or the integrity of the API.
Upon termination, you must cease all use of the API and delete any cached NCBA data, images, or derivative materials.
Updates and Amendments
We may modify these API Terms at any time. Upon any material change to these API Terms, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top. Updates will be posted at https://developer.beefapi.beef.org/terms (or successor URL). Continued use of the APIs constitutes acceptance of any updated API Terms.
- Contact
For inquiries or requests related to these API Terms or to request extended licensing permissions:
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
9110 East Nichols Avenue, Suite 300
Centennial, CO 80112
Email: api-support@beef.org
Website: https://developer.beefapi.beef.org