More BSE animals in U.S?

[this_side_up]

.....

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns says BSE surveillance — which concentrates on older cattle at risk of having the rare disease — isn’t a food safety program....... (rest of paragraph deleted)

“The enhanced surveillance program gives us the ability to stand on solid scientific ground in saying the prevalence of BSE in the United States is extraordinarily low,” Johanns said. “But I would argue that there’s little justification for continuing surveillance at this level once our analysis is affirmed by peer review ensuring we have a very, very scientific prevalence estimate.”

.....

The possibility that the USDA will decrease the frequency of BSE tests has implications for export of U.S. beef. Japan, for example, maintains 100 percent BSE testing of domestic cattle slaughtered for human consumption after confirming 25 BSE cases since 2001. U.S. technical inspections for recertification of slaughter plants wishing to export to Japan began this week with hopes that trade — interrupted after banned bone material was found in a January veal shipment — might resume by mid- to late June.

.....

At last week’s World Meat Congress in Australia, Gary Johnson, the worldwide supply manager for McDonald’s restaurant chain, said what consumers want is a food safety system that provides animal traceback to past owners.

I would think consumers would want safe food period.

http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=24729&SectionID=67&SubSectionID=&S=1

[magellan]

1. This is the same denial they went through in the UK gov't

Tombstone mentality. There won't be anything done until many people start turning up with and dying from CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease).

[this_side_up]

2. I guess it should start showing up fairly soon?

There was another article about a beef in
British Columbia, tested positive end of April. It had
14 herdmates who came across the border. And now
they cannot be located.

In addition, for safety's sake, they want to locate an
additional 135 beef - born the year before, the same year
and the year after the positive one. They cannot locate
them either. The way the article reads, it sounds like
they came here also.

Congrats Republicans!

[mwooldri]

4. And it was a "conservative" government too.

Maybe if BSE is rampant in the USA then perhaps the British will be able to donate blood again?

Mark.

[Dave Reynolds]

3. I just received a new protocol today

for handling brain biopsies for possible CJD.

Apparently, someone thinks it may be a problem.

I personally have given up eating factory-farm beef.

[this_side_up]

5. Aha. Yes, *someone* is worried and

they should be.

I've read that chicken also have the same prion but are thought to be BSE carriers and never actually have the disease.

Take the chicken feces, old feed, feathers, bones (or some combination of these) and mix with the cattle feed.

Now I wonder if the chicken litter is mixed with *organic* feed and fed to organic cattle?

We stopped all beef last July. The first 3 Saturday dinners were just hell because I was craving a grilled
cheeseburger so much. After that, I was fine.

Funny/ironic - there are lots of other bad things
in animals yet there is never a mention of them.