The U.S. government is trying to prevent a Kansas meat company from testing all of its cows for mad cow disease.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week appealed a federal court ruling saying that it could not prevent Creekstone Farms Premium Beef from using the same test for mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, that the government uses.
The difference is that while the government tests less than 1 percent of all cows, Creekstone Farms wants to test every cow.
The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease. . . .
Larger meat companies feared that move because, if Creekstone tested its meat and advertised it as safe, they might have to perform the expensive test, too.
The Agriculture Department regulates the test and argued that widespread testing could lead to a false positive that would harm the meat industry. — Associated Press
Of course. This is all about “protecting” the meat industry from “harm” by preventing them from ensuring the products they deliver are safe. How does this make sense?
This is yet another example of how government safety programs aren’t at all about safety, but about total control over your life.
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Verbos
Jun 04, 2007
It’s because GW is afraid that someone will find out that he has Mad Cow!
Beck
Jun 04, 2007
Not only is this about protecting the meat industry. It’s about not protecting us. Not about expense etc. It is about making sure it is policy that people are not important and never will be. And make sure your non-protection is guaranteed by the government YOU pay for. You get to pay to be unimportant.
Fraud Guy
Jun 05, 2007
Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics.
How accurate are the Mad Cow tests? If there is a significant false negative component, then the meat company could be advertising falsely that their product is “free” of the disease. Of course the tiny percentage currently subject to random sampling is, I’m sure, catching all beef that is even remotely likely to have been exposed, so beef is safe for us to eat, and byproducts can be safely reintroduced to feed, and ranchers/meat extractors only have to test/report on animals that they actually determine could have the disease, as opposed to those they slaughter when they start acting funny.
I say let ‘em test, but at the rate we’re going, I’m going to have to go vegan soon.
Kevin Fields
Jun 05, 2007
If every meat packer had to do the test on every animal, yes, some of them would have to signifigantly raise their prices, and some of them would go out of business.
Thankfully, this isn’t a question of every company HAVING to test, this is a question of HAVING THE OPTION to test every one. There is no way that the government is going to be able to prevent this from happening, it’s an unreasonable restriction on fair trade and the rights of business to operate in a safe, responsible matter.
Admiral Justin
Jun 05, 2007
@Kevin
Yep, our government is very reasonable.
Your talking about a government that thinks it’s fine to wiretap the nation when a president who wiretapped the other party got in trouble.
Or maybe you mean the government who handled post-Katrina cleanup and aid with such finesse.
Or the government that thinks habeas corpus is too good for them terrorist types.
Kevin Fields
Jun 07, 2007
Thanks for the overblown and non-topical reply. ;-)
Florence Kranitz
Jun 10, 2007
Dear Mr.Hampton,
Thank you for so stating the real USDA/Creekstone Farms issue so clearly. The bottom line is that the USDA has decided (with strong influence from the NCBA) the risks of exposing the U.S and our trading partners to BSE is one that doesn’t bear close consideration. The incubation period for the human form of “mad cow” Disease (vCJD) is long (can be up to 20 years) so this administration will not have to bear any responsibilities should the unthinkable happen.
A small group of us, (including one of the worlds leading prion disease experts, a representative from the Consumer Federation of America and a represetntative from Science in the Public Interest)met with Secretary Johanns last July to request that BSE testing in the U.S not be cut back from the 375,000 in place after the discovery of a BSE+ cow in Dec 2003, to the 40,000 figure up until that time.(you know I’m sure that 35M cattle are slaughtered for the U.S. food chain per year) We discussed, very honestly, the risk of exposure the U.S meat eating population would be placed under at such minimum testing figures. Mr Johanns said he would consider our deep concerns and one week later announced the cutback.
There is so much more to say on this issue yet the USDA isn’t interested, presently, in further discussions or in hearing again from our most repsected scientists including those from the U.K.
Please continue to watch and write about BSE testing and the USDA’s lack of concerns regarding BSE and human risk exposure.
I would be happy to talk to you if you want further information.
Sinclerely,
Florence Kranitz
President
The CJD Foundation
330-665-5590
800-659-1991
Leslie Linson
Jun 10, 2007
Hooray for Creekstone Farms! If I can get them to ship me their beef here in Massachusetts, maybe now I can go back to feeling safe about eating beef again. Talk about a stark case of profit over people – I am disgusted by the Bush administration’s position on this.
Jun 10, 2007
Think the US government wants you to be safe from Mad Cow Disease? Think again! at What’s All This Brouhaha?
Sean
Jun 14, 2007
I work in a slaughterhouse up hear in Ontario Canada. Some of things I’ve seen on the unloading pre-kill docks would curl your socks. Just about everyday shaky legged cattle have to be fork-lifted to the kill floor where they are slaughtered along with the rest of the cattle. There is no culling out of these obviously diseased animals. Their meat is put right into the system for export to the USA.
The other workers (mostly immigrants from Pakistan btw) just laugh and say ‘as long as its going to the US, may Allah smight the US devils’. Toronto is now about 60% immigrant vs 40% Canadians who were born here.
If you knew what I knew about the meat we’re sending, you’d be protesting every truckload at your boarder right now!
Sean