US to Meatpackers: Don't Do Mad Cow Test

[wakeme2008]

Source: AP

ay 29, 2007
US to Meatpackers: Don't Do Mad Cow Test
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 3:38 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease.

The Agriculture Department tests less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. But Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to test all of its cows.

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.

A federal judge ruled in March that such tests must be allowed. The ruling was to take effect June 1, but the Agriculture Department said Tuesday it would appeal -- effectively delaying the testing until the court challenge plays out.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Mad-Cow.html

---

Un Fucking believable....

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. It's like they want...

a CJD epidemic. Frankly, I think they do.

[kestrel91316]

3. Of course they do. What better way to get rid of the "useless eaters"

among us?

I eat exactly two fast food burgers a year. One at McDonalds, and one at In-and-Out. And I don't buy ground beef - I buy chuck roast and grind it myself - once or twice a year.

IMHO every single cow in our food supply should be tested. But WTF do I know? I'm just a microbiologist and veterinarian........

[TechBear_Seattle]

8. Beef is beef

If the animal was infected with mad cow, it does not matter whether you eat the infected meat as ground beef or as ground chuck or as roast beef. It does not matter whether you eat it in a fast-food joint or in a nice sit-down restaurant or in your own home.

If the matter was E. coli, then you are doing well. But none of that will make any difference with prion diseases like mad cow. None whatsoever.

And the government falls just short of ordering the meat industry to make sure the food supply is not tainted. This is supposed to boost consumer confidence? Quite the opposite.

[PerceptionManagement]

10. Another FU to the American public from Chimpy

[kestrel91316]

34. Wrong. Prions concentrate in nerve tissue, which is damned sparse in

a roast. And by grinding my own, I am avoiding the risk that one of the 100,000 cows ground up together contaminated the whole batch.

I understand the risk by virtue of my medical background, and I understand how to decrease it.

[Turbineguy]

76. I'm curious

is there some sort of test that people can have to see if they are infected?

[kestrel91316]

81. There's no screening test for the asymptomatic. If you start to ACT like

your brain has turned to Swiss cheese, I think they do an MRI or CT scan to see if it HAS turned to Swiss cheese. Maybe a brain biopsy, too.

[Turbineguy]

82. That's not encouraging

well, one thing about the Bush legacy, no doubt the number of cases of CJV will go up enough to make R&D for tests and drugs a profitable endevour.

[Nihil]

85. The bad news ...

... is that the rate of diagnosis will go down - partly due to the
lack of scientific research done and partly due to the increasingly
difficult task of telling whether Bush voters are suffering from CJV
or not ...
:evilgrin:

[CHIMO]

55. Dying for a Hamburger

Found the book to have much good information and the possible reason for the spread of prion disease constructed on a strong basis.

It is widely accepted today that memory loss comes with age. Alzheimer's currently robs at least 15 million people of their identity worldwide. This book makes the controversial claim that eating meat may contribute to the development of the disease.

In Dying for a Hamburger, Dr. Murray Waldman and Marjorie Lamb draw upon documentary evidence, historical testimony, and inspired speculation to suggest that Alzheimer's:

—is a new disease: elderly people did not experience symptoms of dementia in such alarming numbers in the past
—began appearing after modern meat production techniques were introduced
—has soared in nations where these techniques are used
—hardly exists in cultures where meat consumption is low
—has been attributed to many deaths that are actually the human equivalent of mad cow disease.

They present startling evidence that Alzheimer's may be part of a family of diseases linked to malformed proteins known as prions. They hypothesize that the conditions that allow these brain disorders to be triggered are similar. They propose that mad cow, its human equivalent, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), other encephalitic diseases, and Alzheimer's may have a common antecedent.

http://www.holtzbrinckpublishers.com/academic/book/BookDisplay.asp?BookKey=2233585

[The Doctor.]

59. Incorrect.

BSE is a protein, a 'prion' that 'retools' other proteins only found in nervous tissue.

It will not be found in a filet, even from an infected specimen. You also can't 'sterilize' it by cooking it out of the tissue, unless you like your hamburger so well done it's just carbon.

Otherwise, this is utterly ridiculous... par for the administration.

[Bjorn Against]

35. Yeah, you microbiologists just need to shut up and leave this stuff to the experts...

If we just let experts like George Bush and James Dobson decide what is safe everything will be just fine.

:sarcasm:

[Zhade]

2. Alternate headline: "Bush tells Americans to shut up, eat their burgers and DIE"

Fucking ASSHOLE.

[Kikosexy2]

40. May he ...

choke on a large, long pickle next time...that evil Mofo...

[Turbineguy]

4. The Bush Administration

is merely projecting what most of the world wishes on them.

[youngdem]

5. Oh, THIS must be the unregulated free market I hear so much about

regulating itself to protect the valued consumers. Right? RIGHT?

FUCKING DISGUSTING.

Here is another reason I don't eat any meat I don't catch myself with a rod and reel.

[lmarcotty]

11. Exactly my thought

My first thought, like everyone's, was "un- fucking -believable." Second was - I thought this was the market was supposed to work? You know, someone offers a different product for a different price and the buyer gets to choose? If company B wants to keep selling cheap B instead of doing expensive testing and selling for a higher price, that's its own choice, right? I must have missed something. I know the Bush administration would never do something so - regulatory...

[The Backlash Cometh]

19. I called it the post-mortum cost negative factor.

Basically it's the point where the corporation is willing to accept regulation because half of his customers are dying from eating his product, and the half won't buy it because of the high morbidity rate.

[CrispyQ]

83. This is what I don't understand,

they eat meat, so aren't they worried about their own health? Do they get around it by eating organic beef? Is organic beef safe from mad cow?

[Chemical Bill]

87. The PTB will sell their own children for $$$. n/t

[Thor_MN]

41. Corporations like "Free Market" only where it benefits them....

When you talk about labor, why then, we need more H1-B type Visas - can't let the market decide wages for qualified workers, have to artificially regulate methods to lower wages.

Likewise with testing, can't let anyone do 100% testing because then they might not be able to match up with what little competition is left. They want to have the cake, eat it and make you pay for it. It's way past time to do some monopoly breakups.

[Raksha]

49. Right...so much for entrepreneurship and free enterprise.

I've known for years they don't actually believe their "free market" dogma. This just confirms it.

Edited to add: What if there were a nationwide boycott on beef? Wouldn't Bush's big rancher friends just LOVE that? We should start calling beef from untested cows "Republican beef" and spreading that meme far and wide.

[depakid]

6. Don't ask don't tell....

works quite well when the gestation period can be a decade or more.

[no_hypocrisy]

7. Back to Oprah's admonition, "I'll never eat a hamburger again".

Tell the Agriculture Department to kiss my ass before it kisses GWB's.

[pinniped]

9. I don't eat beef, but this is fucked up.

And....is also what I would expect from these punks. These fuckers don't care about the troops, the air in NY, and they sure as hell don't care about a few mad cows.

As usual, it's all about money.

The Agriculture Department argued that widespread testing could lead to a false positive that would harm the meat industry.

[TechBear_Seattle]

12. I missed that line

The Agriculture Department argued that widespread testing could lead to a false positive that would harm the meat industry.

IMO, the government's arguing against widespread testing will cause much greater harm.

[Nihil]

75. Yeah right ... "false" positives ... of course ...

> The Agriculture Department argued that widespread testing could
> lead to a false positive that would harm the meat industry.

How can anyone believe this crap?
"False" positives?

IT'S THE VOLUME OF ACTUAL GENUINE 100% TRUE POSITIVES THAT'S THE PROBLEM!

So don't even dream of allowing the great unwashed discovering the truth.
Even *they* might want some sort of retribution for the crimes committed.

[19jet54]

13. It is amazing to me...

... just how much damage Bush can do to America in such a short time?

[Eurobabe]

14. Coming from this mal-administration, anything is believable

Screw the people, long live corporate 'Murika!

[Doremus]

15. So doesn't that just give you the warm fuzzies?

Not.

How bad must it be if they are digging in tooth and nail to prevent testing?

I shudder to think.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

16. Calling Upton Sinclair!

And citizenry who give a shit.

[Show_Me _The_Truth]

17. No reason to IF you use the right cows.

Not old cows and not cows that eat other spinal tissue as part of feed.

[The Backlash Cometh]

18. Okay, there is something wrong here. Bush knows something, and I

think it's TIME FOR THE FUCKING DAMN CONGRESS TO DEMAND THOSE MAD COW TESTS BECAUSE THE COMMON AMERICAN WILL NOT STAND FOR A PRESIDENT WHO KNOWINGLY POISONS CHILDREN.

What does it take to wake them up, one wonders.

[BadgerKid]

20. What's wrong: actual outbreak ==> martial law

and who know what. Outbreak of human food disease, bird flu, act of terrorism, someone flips out, * lets one rip, etc.

*Co is driving our nation toward the precipice.

This is meant to keep us in a perpetual state of uncertainty and fear.

And everyone in government is letting him. :(

[Demeter]

21. The President Playing Doctor--Thought He Learned After Terry Sciavo

Guess not.

[bonito]

22. Kick

[Greyskye]

23. Is there an equivalent to 'war crime'?

What a freaking joke this mis-administration is. Power to the people! As long as 'people'='corporations'. :puke:

[central scrutinizer]

24. Isn't capitalism about having choices?

I guess not. Apparently Bushco wants to make sure that you shouldn't have the knowledge to make a choice about what to buy, and that a producer doesn't have the right to make their product more appealing, if it hurts big campaign donors.

[DemGa]

25. The logic disturbes me

"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."

It seems to me that if the meat tests okay, then it just reinforces the government position that there is nothing to fear in the meat. I think it is obvious they are afraid of widespread testing for other reasons.

[tiptoe]

26. And at least one Canadian Minister of Agriculture did just what the US told him to do:

Video (3m), Stanley Prusiner —"I wanted to see Ann Venemon: FIVE TIMES Dan Glickman, the former Sec of Agriculture (Clinton), tried to set up an appt for me with her to tell her what was going on, and it never worked..."

[robinlynne]

27. btw, Japan and much of Europe absolutely boycott US beef because of the high

amounts of mad cow disease present. Apparently, this year, a ship full of american beef was not allowed to even dock in Japan. My friends from abroad constantly beg me to not eat american beef. it is common knowledge there. not even a matter of lack of testing. a matter of conclusive testing done there, showing the presence of mad cow disease in exported beef, which was then returned, or not allowed to be unloaded.

[DemGa]

29. They are testing US beef and its is coming up positive

for mad cow disease? That is huge!

[TechBear_Seattle]

30. It would be interesting to see some independent tests

Should be easy enough: go into grocery stores around the country, buy beef, and test it. Sounds like an excellent subject for a master's thesis, maybe even a doctoral dissertation.

[file83]

46. That's just great. I had a big steak this Memorial Day weekend at a BBQ...

...I can feel my brain shorting out already.

[Penance]

57. Did they actually find BSE?

I've only read that they found spinal tissue in the shipments to Japan. I've never heard that any of the material came up positive. Do you have a source for the conclusive test?

[anotherCTliberal]

58. It was probably found in Japan because they test ALL of their meat!

Speaking of repulsive practices of our government agencies, why is grinding up cattle meat and feeding to live cattle banned, but it's perfectly acceptable to use the blood as part of feed for calves?

[robinlynne]

63. only a friend whom I trust who lives in tokyo. She was here to visit in march and

was adamant about it, and said it is common knowledge in Japan.

[PinkUnicorn]

86. Not just BSE

A considerable number of 'Western' countries wont touch US beef with a barge pole.

Apart from a history of a very cavalier attitude toward diseases, US beef also has an international reputation for being so loaded with growth hormones and steroids, that even just looking at it will cause chest hair growth.

So I suspect this will be more of internal concern about US markets and consumers, as the general opinion of US beef products couldn't get any worse abroad, and countries which don't have a choice of supplier due to cost will keep buying anyway.

[Connonym]

28. I'm emailing this story to everyone in my address book

this is so fucking outrageous that I'm literally stunned. They're even more evil than I had previously believed.

[MetaTrope]

31. Grandpappy Prescott Bush's eugenics program in action

Unlike the Nazis, our fascists are patient and take the long range view.

[VP505]

32. So where are the Dem's?

This is the kind of headline that ought to have Reid and Pelosi calling a news brief in front of the Senate telling Bu$h that they will absolutely in no way shape or form allow his administration to prevent the Agriculture Department from protecting American consumers and launch an immediate investigation into what they have already been done if anything.

[FatDave]

47. That's very uncynical of you, vpilot.

How long have you been a democrat?

[focusfan]

33. i guess if Bush can't get you one way

he will get you another.he has broke the u.s.put us in war
that we shouldn't be in and making gas prices to high for
anyone to afford and now he's trying to kill us with what
might be tainted meat.i hope he splits hell open 

[Cant trust em]

36. Once again, big business is screwing me

This Republican mantra of "Let business be business" doesn't seem to be such a great idea all the time. Keeping regulations like this out of business certainly isn't helping consumers. It just makes it easier for these companies to make money. They sure as hell don't care if we are getting a bad product.

[muntrv]

37. Shrub: "EAT BEEF AND DIE, BITCHES!!!"

[BadgerKid]

38. I wonder what organics stocks *Co holds. n/t

[madrchsod]

39. beef?-- try wild game animals.

an out break several years ago at a ranch that raised animals for hunting clubs shipped infected animals across the country. while he was the governor in wisconsin tommy thompson hid the problem to appease the hunting club owners and thus the deer wasting disease infected many herds across southern wisconsin and northern il.

when will this shit stop?

[tofurkey]

42. You expect human health considerations from corporations...

that make their profits off the torture and exploitation of animals?

You get what you pay for...

[Coexist]

43. sometimes I just have no words...

this is one of them

[Gman]

44. "The Agriculture Department regulates the test and argued that

widespread testing could lead to a false positive that would harm the meat industry."

I can't believe they had the ignorance, stupidity or whatever to argue this in front of a presumably intelligent federal judge.

[DemBones DemBones]

45. It's this sort of thing, plus E. coli in beef, Salmonella in chicken,

and so on, that made us become vegetarians.

[april]

48. unbelievable this s.o.b.

WTF!!!!!

[salin]

50. PROOF the GOP is not about Free Markets as they claim

The smaller company wants to test all - and cater to the market that cares and is willing to pay more for tested beef. Free Marketeers would allow the company to go ahead and see what happens in the market - and would claim that if the market WANTS all beef tested than the big companies would do it as well - that is what they call a "market correction" and is why they (free market absolutists) say there is no need for regulation.

Now in this topsy turvy cronycapitalist system the regulators are NOT concerned about public safety/health but about keeping big corps happy and preventing the market to "work".

[FatDave]

51. Fuck it.

The Rapture will surely happen before people start dropping dead of CJD, right? Right?

[lonestarnot]

52. Well through the FUCKING LOOKINGGLASS! Again!

U.S. District Judge James Robertson... hmmmmmmmf. Let people eat cake instead of beef! I will buy no more until the fucking case is decided.

[indepat]

53. Total and holistic evil again rearing its ugly face for the world to see

[Wise Doubter]

54. One of his cronies must have developed...

some type of Happy Cow antidote. :eyes:

[heliarc]

56. Thanks be to whatever lord there might be for the Judiciary. F&$&^%K nt

[badgervan]

60. This Is Just a Preview....

... of what we're in for if rove's plan for stacking the judicial branch with bushies succeeds. That 28% would shrink considerably if people would only pay attention to this stuff. Willful ignorance is killing our country, starting with the DeciderCommander-in-Chief himself. God help us until January, 2009.

[Crunchy Frog]

61. God forbid that the free market should be allowed to interfere with corporate profits. n/t

[nealmhughes]

62. The reasoning is astonishing. The 1% tested is a ridiculous percentage.

Is there any doubt that we have the best government that money can buy (off)?

[Renew Deal]

64. Only in America

Only in America can the government prevent a company from voluntarily doing something good for consumers. Un Fucking believable indeed.

[barbtries]

65. it seems that every

goddam issue this administration acts upon illustrates just how callous and uncaring they are toward human - no, toward any life. always the profits, always the greed, never the common good, never the rule of law.

it's like the news should be called the daily outrage. every day brings news that is outrageous. to where it's normal. so sad, so maddening, so wrong

[viat0r]

66. Repukes need help

Well if not for madcow disease how will republicans get anyone to vote for them in 2008?
You have to be mad to vote for them...

[NYC]

67. Funny you should say that.

Welcome to DU. :hi:

[RamboLiberal]

68. I want to know who are the 13% of the idiot voters on MSNBC

who voted no on testing if it made their steak more expensive - Bush voters? BTW, when I voted 81% wanted their beef tested.

[Pachamama]

69. The 13% who will get Mad Cow Disease....

...that's who they are.... :eyes:

All I know is that anyone who values their health and longevity, will cut Beef out of their diet...It's just not worth taking the risk and I think its safe to say our food supply is at risk in a lot of areas, this being one of them.

Reduce risk....that's what I'm doing...

[TrogL]

70. That's it - Canada has no choice but to invade

The US has declared economic warfare - again.

We'll try not to burn down the White House this time.

[raccoon]

88. Please! We need to be liberated! We'll greet you with flowers. nt

[OneBlueSky]

71. this government is firmly in the clutches of big business . . .

the oil industry . . . the "defense" industry . . . the healthcare industry . . . the banking industry . . . and, in this case, agribusiness . . . whatever the megacorps want, that's what BushCo gives them . . .

nothing -- and I do mean NOTHING -- is going to change in this country without first strictly (and I do mean STRICTLY) regulating huge corporations . . . including prohibiting them from lobbying . . .

[opihimoimoi]

72. Who in the World is still backing up the GOP and Bush? Are they Delusional or WHAT?

[Gin]

73. why does that meat packer,who wants to test ,need any body's approval?

Just do it...and put the results on their packaging.

[Vinca]

74. This is ignorance beyond the pale.

I'll put this in terms Republicans will understand: one case of mad cow as a result of an untested animal will mean a nose dive in profits, death to your stock portfolio and a tidal wave of votes for Democrats.

[bleedingheart]

77. But...but....here is a company trying to "regulate itself"...and the other big companies

are trying to stop it....

Tell me it isn't true...


:sarcasm:

[doodadem]

78. Crohn's Disease in Humans

I've posted about this previously, but might be a good time to do so again.

We had to put our pet Brahma steer down a few years ago because he contracted Johne's Disease from the ignorant neighbor's cattle trespassing on our farm. The disease takes awhile to become symptomatic, but those include chronic/copious diarrhea and wasting away. The virus can live in the ground for several years, and affects all ruminants (animals that chew a cud). Our little pygmy goats have tested negative.

At the time, our vet, other vets, and the state ag vet here told us people outside the cattle industry would be amazed at how prevalent the disease (pronounced, "YOH-nees") is across the country--as much as 80% would test positive for it. Animals generally contract the disease, and carry it a few years before becoming symptomatic--which means they're usually slaughtered first. It is highly contagious, there is no preventative vaccine, no cure, and it is 100% fatal. It is rampant in the dairy industry here in Calif.'s Central Valley. So much so, that the large farms have two sets of equipment, one to tend the non-infected animals, and another set for the infected ones. Most people, including most small time farmers around here, have never heard of the disease.

Now here's the kicker--Johne's Disease in cattle is being linked to Crohn's Disease now in humans. There's been no publicity about it whatsoever. We couldn't even get the ag dept to order the neighbor's cattle to be quarantined. Another quiet coverup by the government, and the beef/dairy industries.

[lakeguy]

79. free market...don't think so. nt

[Rosa Luxemburg]

80. Bush vs the people (Bush hates us so much that he wants us to have BSE?)

criminal

Bush just loves to torture and kill

[TexasLawyer]

84. "There have been three cases of mad cow disease in the U.S."

No-- three cases of mad cow have been uncovered despite the near absence of testing for mad cow and the active hostility of the beef industry to comprehensive testing.