More worries over mad cow

[Spazito]

OTTAWA - Canadian officials are expected to confirm today that a third case of mad cow has been found in the country, and that the animal was born after a 1997 ban on feeding cattle remains to cattle.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has a news conference scheduled for 2 p.m. EST.

Canada's two previous cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy were both born before the August 1997 ban was in place. The disease is thought to be spread when cattle eat the remains of other infected cows.

The news that an animal may have been infected after the ban could call into question the country's feed supply and whether the regulations are being followed.

more

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/01/11/madc...

[Kagemusha]

1. Well, there's no excuse for this.

Sanctimonious American protectionism aside, there's not any excuse if it's a matter of farmers violating the feed ban. IF that is indeed the case.

Though of course this'll be used as a weapon of economic war...

[Spazito]

2. I agree, this is very serious, imo

more so than the previous two reports.

[warrens]

3. This one is going to set off a firestorm...

Unless they can PROVE it was fed with obsolete feed. Which, given the way these agencies work, might or might not have been illegal. They way they write laws usually means huge loopholes are deliberately left in the final language so as not to cause heavy financial damage to someone who might be expected to donate to campaigns in the future. Or donated very specifically to have the loophole written into the law.

[warrens]

4. Looks like there is going to be a major investigation

Of the feed industries in both Canada and the U.S. Kent Conrad and Dorgan and a bunch of congressmen are up in arms. Including Waxman.

[burn the bush]

5. I believe when shrub went to canada it was to secure a deal

we will overlook these small problems with the beef and they will....block the borders when the draft is instated? Fill in the second part there with your own answers instead of block the borders, but by god, the deal was to clear the way for the beef.

when yelling at me for this...it is an opinion only. kay?

[Dave Reynolds]

7. I saw something

yesterday regarding Canada's possible willingness to sign on to the Missile Defense program, but I can't find the link right now.

[TrustingDog]

10. Paul Martin is a lil Bushtler. I don't trust that fucker at all.

No doubt some slimey back door deals were done like you suggest.

[olddad56]

6. I'm not worried, Men can't get Mad Cow disease ......

because we are all PIGS.

[w4rma]

8. At least Canada is testing their beef. Our beef here in the U.S. is NOT

In fact a small farm was PREVENTED, by our government, from testing their own cows. They wanted to test them because Japan wanted them tested before they would accept an agreement with this farm and Japan. Needless to say they were not tested and the cows were not shipped.

[Megahurtz]

9. YIKES!

Scary!

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

11. don't worry, it's safe here in the USA !-but no symptoms for 20-40 years

Bush will be long gone -won't have to take the rap

Prions are not bacteria.
They can't be destroyed by heat.

[livinginphotographs]

12. One more reason not to eat beef.....

:ducks:

[Rainscents]

13. I receive organic consumer...

every month and there was in-depth article about FDA and our government is withholding information on this issue. What I read in the article, Corporate farmers didn't want FDA to change the law as it would hurt their dairy, so, FDA and Bush administration demolished the law that would had protected consumer. Instead, cows are continue to feed chop up brains, guts, etc... This administration lied to consumer and FDA went on long with it.

[livinginphotographs]

14. I'd heard that too.

Even before I was a vegetarian, I didn't eat beef for many years. That shit is so bad for you, especially since it's so full of hormones anyway.

Wonder who's telling you how healthy beef and dairy are? The beef and dairy industries. Gee, there's a shocker.

[ecoalex]

15. Grass fed beef is healthy

On a conservation, nutrition basis grass fed beef solves many problems.Feed lot beef is unhealthy, but grass fed beef is low fat, and the fat has Omega 3 , and other nutritional aspects besides being low or no pesticide residues. Of course eco grown grass would be better than chemical for many reasons.

The USDA is covering up for the meat packers, as in all agencies of the government , the industry has their shill in place. This is so apparant with bushco . Clear Creek in Neb. has a law particulatly stoping them from testing their beef for sale to Japan, that's how scared the USDA is they don't want to test.

[daleo]

16. That's it, the border won't open now

Not that I think things are any better in the U.S. than they are in Canada. Canada is just doing a slightly more honest job of looking (although its efforts are half-hearted as well). Our family gave up beef nearly two years ago, and I don't miss it. I just hope BSE is never shown to be in dairy products.

On edit - So, they allowed the bad fed to continue to be sold after its manufacture was banned?

"The latest discovery involves an animal that was born after the 1997 ban on feeding animal remains to cattle.

But the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's chief veterinarian, Brian Evans, says, "This was most likely an exposure to feed produced before the fall of 1997."

The Canadian ban on putting cattle remains into cattle feed came into effect in August 1997. This latest animal was born in March 1998."

[NickB79]

17. It was born 6 months after the feed ban

And it takes several months to wean it off milk or milk replacer and onto grains. I have a hard time believing that it was fed feed that was at a minimum of 9 months old, as cattle feed doesn't have an indefinite shelf life.

[daleo]

18. You're right, it sounds like a story.

When the next one comes along, that was born 2 years after the ban they will say it was because its ancestors still had a memory of eating infected feed.

[ecoalex]

19. The GAO Report

said many feed manufacturers still are using the illegal animal protein supplement in their feeds . The GAO has filed over 4 reports each stating the feed ban was not being followed completely.

[daleo]

20. And recent tests in Canada showed over half of feed bags tested

Had illegal animal products in them. The government inspectors didn't bother doing any DNA testing to identify the species, so that they could claim that it might have been something other than cattle tissue. This statistic also applied to imported feed that they tested (imported feed in Canada means U.S. feed).

[NickB79]

21. I'm surprised no one has been looking into the use of milk replacers

Powdered milk replacer is fed to many calves, especially those bred from dairy cattle so that the farmers don't lose milk that could be sold for a profit. It is cheaper to buy a bag of powdered milk replacer to mix with warm water than it is to let the calf suckle on its mother. One ingredient of many milk replacer formulas is powdered animal blood, primarily cow and pig blood. The route of transmission may not be as efficient with blood as with ground-up feed supplements, but it is still a possible vector. There are currently no regulations requiring manufacturers to stop using cattle blood in milk replacer, though they say they are "looking into it."

[Solly Mack]

22. We got a notice here that mad cow showed up in Washington state

on December 23rd, I believe was the date. Might have been 26th. I can check again.

I'm in Germany and meat is shipped from the states to the commissary. A BIG blue sign is at the meat counter and it is a warning about mad cow showing up in Washington state.

So I'm wondering, was there a warning in the US about this?

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

23. no warning at all-what? do you think this is a free country or something?

We have news blackouts here in the USA on all National Networks for any topics that the " * Administration" isn't in favor of.
There will never be any mention of anything that may help people make "informed" choices. The big corporations will do all the choice making around here!

What did Mussolini call merger of government and corporations?
I forgot the word he used to describe it.
Well, whatever,
That's what we have here.

[CHIMO]

24. Mad cow disease resurfaces despite feed restrictions

Another case of mad-cow disease has turned up in Alberta, this time in an animal born after feeding restrictions designed to halt the spread of BSE were introduced.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Tuesday that it believes that the animal "most likely" became infected by eating feed produced before the ban went into effect.

Confronted with the news during a major speech unrelated to agriculture, Alberta Premier Ralph Klein said that the ability of inspectors to find infected animals such as these is good news, in that it shows that the surveillance program is working properly.

"Canada continues to lag behind the standards set in other regions that have dealt with BSE," Mr. Angus said in a statement. "Still, the Agriculture Minister is scrambling to prove that the status quo is good enough."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.2005...