Mad Cow Case May Bring More Meat Testing

[SilasSoule]

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

Published: December 26, 2003


As the American beef industry struggles with its first case of mad cow disease, the Department of Agriculture is debating whether to do far more screening of meat and change the way meat from suspect animals is used, department officials say.

The officials declined to say exactly what they would recommend, but acknowledged that European and Japanese regulators screened millions of animals using tests that take only three hours, fast enough to stop diseased carcasses from being cut up for food.

United States inspectors have tested fewer than 30,000 of the roughly 300 million animals slaughtered in the last nine years, and they get results days or weeks later.

But the American system was never intended to keep sick animals from reaching the public's refrigerators, said Dr. Ron DeHaven, the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian.

It is "a surveillance system, not a food safety test," Dr. DeHaven said in an interview on Wednesday.

Statistically, it is meant to ensure finding the disease only if it exists in one in a million animals, and only after slaughter.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/26/national/26DETE.html




..

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. IT MAY BRING MORE TESINGq

Yep, lives before profits, really

This is like war is peace and ignorance is strenght.

[oldcoot]

19. I think that the cattle industry wants more testing

According to the article, the cattle industry is willing to endorse more tests. If cattle ranchers are smart, they will demand more tests because they will want to convince consumers that their products are safe as soon as possible.

[sam sarrha]

2. They didn't want to find it..It is out there, see www.maddeer.org and

http://whyfiles.org/156cwd_deer/ and just type in CWD ..In the wild it is spread by deer licking each other socially, and maybe salt licks on public grazing lands the deer share with cattle. for a real scary story.. go surf the subject 'Prion Disease'... Prion contaminated animals can be reduced to ashes at over 2000*F and the ashes can still infect live animals...:wtf:

[sam sarrha]

3. "Downed Cows"..sick animals that fall down before entering the slaughter

house, some fall down and are "Prodded" up and into the door, I have personally seen it done. The 'downed cows' were allowed to be used for non human consumption agricultural purposes in Wisconsin or Minnesota mink farms and the mink were infected with prion decease CWD, related to Mad Cow or mad cow is actually CWD?. The mink got loose and infected the local deer herds... surf "CWD Red Zone". It is totally out of control, there is talk of releasing wolves to deal with it. This is just more elected government.. dont look, dont see, cant find, cover up to protect an industry that makes campaign contributions. and i wouldn't lick envelopes anymore.

The scientist that identified Mad Cow Prion Disease actually died of it from using Bone Meal potting flowers in his home. pressure cooking, autoclaving, will not kill Prions..

[baby_bear]

4. This is very alarming

<snip from the same article>

The Washington cow was tested within two weeks, but by then its muscle meat had become food for humans and its spinal cord was sent to a plant that makes food for pets, pigs and poultry.

</snip>

Is there any reason that "pets," pigs and poultry could not succumb
to disease if they eat cow meat infected with BSE prions?

s_m

[htuttle]

5. I think they did in Great Britain

Really crappy meat 'product' is often used in pet and animal food. IIRC, lots of cats and dogs got BSE during UK's mad cow epidemic. I think the London Zoo had a bunch of animals get it also.

No birds though.

[sam sarrha]

6. type in 'Prion disease' they can go interspecies in 4 generations and

survive cremation at over 2000*F and the ashes can infect animals. Type in 'downer cows lunch program action alert' .. www.maddeer.org .. www.organicconsumers.org ... I have been reading about people dieing of CWD for years, I tell everybody i know and dont know not to eat beef.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. my parrot eats

whatever we eat, she has eaten meat, she loves meat, she will hate the fact that no beef on the table no more folks.

[lebkuchen]

7. Watch the Vegan population increase exponentially in 2004

The French beef market is about to blossom, yet another legitimate reason for giving the US the finger.

[TreasonousBastard]

8. "MAY" do more screening????

"DEBATING" !!!!

:wtf: is it with these people?

I am well aware that there are reasons they cannot just take the French and British experiences and immediately transfer them here.

But, they all got caught flatfooted on this one (so what else is new?) and I have no doubt most of 'em are more worried about saving a few bucks and covering their asses than about public health.

[this_side_up]

9. more testing combined with

not eating any beef at all for x years
and not feeding animals to animals?

About 10 or 12 years ago, a minister died from
it. He had never been out of the country.
His wife wanted an autopsy done but the state
refused saying that all of the instruments,
table and the entire room would have to be
permanently sealed off as there is no way to
disinfect anything.

A woman who was an avid gardener who used
lots of bone meal died.

A certain hospital was treating so-called
fibromyalgia patients with bovine growth
hormone. They got sick and the hospital
switched to synthetic.

Since there is no way to kill the prions...
all of these people had to have gone to the
dentist, maybe had some major/minor surgery
done.

[this_side_up]

10. need to add that

the hospital was doing this in the mid- to late 80s.

They knew way back then.

[Cloud]

11. We need testing

I lift weights and get a high protein diet. I eat a lot of beef so this really concerns me.

We need testing. Sick and downed animals do not belong in the refrigerators of America.

I hope this doesn't become a political issue. Public health comes before big business.

[proud patriot]

13. It fucking Better Bring More Testing

:grr:

[MrPrax]

14. Strange priorities...

Government and business go out of their way to test people if they smoked pot, but only tested 30,000 cows over a 9 year period for a lethal disease...

Our children will look back on this era with bewilderment

[sam sarrha]

15. only those that survive...

:grouphug:

[Occulus]

21. I've just today been told

that CJD can cross the placenta as well. That, and we should be more concerned about dairy products than anything else.

[shanti]

17. priorities, priorities

:grr:

[ConcernedCanuk]

16. Simple indication of USA's WH concern - had to get BRITAIN to confirm

. . had to get BRITAIN to confirm the "suspect" Mad Cow Disease

. . BILLIONS upon BILLIONS spent to make war, but not enough $$$ to have the facilities / expertise to protect it's citizens from this deadly disease ?

. . Herein lies the obvious "priorities" of the USA Administration.

. . The BFEE managed to gouge BILLIONS of dollars from the taxpayers to destroy a practically militarily impotent Saddam,

. . But neglected to Protect it's Taxpayers from a POTENT home-grown disease

[alfredo]

18. How many want to bet bush first pushes for immunity for the

industry? You know he will say that limiting damages is in the best interests of the nation. Of course any legislation to regulate will face republicanization.

[depakid]

20. Gee, do you think?

"In Europe, they needed to test more animals because they had the disease," said Dr. Gary Weber, the Cattleman Association's vice president for regulatory affairs."

Hmm. Well, it looks like it's confirmed here now, too.

This quote takes the cake (or the patty) though:

"Farm Sanctuary obtained U.S.D.A. slaughterhouse records under the Freedom of Information Act, he said, and found that downers with hepatitis, lymphoma, gangrene and other ills had been passed by inspectors."

That really creates public confidence in the beef supply.

[porkrind]

25. Beef Industry has huge incentive NOT to look for this disease...

"In Europe, they needed to test more animals because they had the disease," said Dr. Gary Weber, the Cattleman Association's vice president for regulatory affairs."


It's obvious that they did not want to find the disease here in America. That's why the percentage of cows tested was so incredibly low. Think about it. People in the industry are experts on cattle and their diseases, BUT they also have a HUGE financial incentive NOT to find this disease.

The best way NOT to find it is to only test 1 in a million cattle. (like they do now)

They have to be forced to test EACH AND EVERY COW. If we the public don't keep the pressure on, nothing will happen. They don't care about public safety, just profit. Unfortunately, the Bush administration won't do it, so we have to by not buying meat or dairy products. :puke:


It's also incredible that neither they (the cattle industry) or the government seem to have a contingency plan. Did they not think this would happen here one day? It's happened in other countries, did they think we were somehow immune?

[NickB79]

22. Screw testing, hit it at the source

Demand that Bush outlaw the practice of feeding ground-up cattle remains back to other cattle! That is how Great Britain brought their Mad Cow epidemic to control. Anything less and we won't be able to stop the spread no matter how much testing they do.

[bicentennial_baby]

23. It is illegal

Has been since 1997, but the industry is largely if not wholly self-regulated, and non-compliance is the norm. Hell, they still sell bone and blood meal for the vegetable garden at the local Agway! Makes me sick.... :puke:

[shanti]

26. exactly!

i want all beef to be certified organic and free range fed or i won't eat it! testing? i don't trust them to test so this is the bottom line, imo.

[Occulus]

24. May???

Beg pardon- MAY???

[WhereIsMyFreedom]

27. I don't like their math

United States inspectors have tested fewer than 30,000 of the roughly 300 million animals slaughtered in the last nine years, and they get results days or weeks later.

<snip>

Statistically, it is meant to ensure finding the disease only if it exists in one in a million animals, and only after slaughter.

Testing only 30,000 of 300 million animals looking for a one in a million animal didn't seem to me to add up right. So I checked the math on it. The probability that they would discover at least one of the 300 infected animals is only 3%. If they checked 3 million instead of 30,000, then that probability would rise to a respectable (though not entirely comfortable) 95%. Another way of looking at it is that the infection rate would have to reach 1 in 10,000 before they have a 95% chance of finding it at the current testing rate. At that rate, around 10 mad cows would be processed EACH DAY!

For the interested (or to check my math) this is the formula I used. Let n = total number of cows, m = number of sick cows, x = number of tested cows. Probability that they don't test a sick cow = Choice(n-m, x)/Choice(n, x). That is, healthy cows choose x divided by all cows choose x.

Of course, this makes several assumptions. First, that the tested cows are randomly chosen. If mad cows look sick and sick looking cows are more frequently chosen for testing, then the probability of finding a mad cow increases. However, considering the long incubation period the cow may be sick but not look it. I don't know enough to judge how this would affect the results. Second, these numbers span 9 years. I can't really judge how this affects things. However, I did calculate that if we processed 30 million cows last year, and 30 carried mad cow disease (1 in a million), and we tested all 30,000 this last year then the chance of finding the infected animal stays at 3%.

My interpretation, their claim of testing for a 1-in-a-million mad cow is complete and udder bullshit!