Singing: And the beat goes on...........................................Sonny and Cher


Why I Don't Eat Beef

An important editorial from today's Oregonian confirmed some of my suspicions on the safety of eating beef. U.S. policy on mad cow in question summarizes my fears regarding the bureaucrat(s) (see Ann Veneman) legislating our food, and inefficiencies within the USDA inspection system. Introducing BSE infected cattle into our food system can occur very easily.....

the United States imported millions of cattle each year from Canada and Mexico. But as the scientists pointed out, U.S. trade regulations gave agency officials no way to guarantee that the imported cattle were disease-free.

"Maybe they don't pose any risk, but what if they had been fed contaminated starter ratios as calves in Mexico?" the scientists' report said. "Even if they would not live until patent clinical stages, they would introduce infectivity into the system."


Meanwhile down at the ranch.....a sick cow is suspect of BSE |link|

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is gathering information on a cow that was ordered destroyed at a West Texas meatpacking plant, a USDA official said Friday.
USDA spokesman Ed Loyd said he didn't have confirmation on why the cow was killed Wednesday, and said it wasn't immediately clear if a tissue sample had been taken for a test for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease.

Except someone screwed up and look what happens to the sample.

Via FSnet, by subscription,

USDA: Mad cow testing procedure violated in Texas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was cited as saying on Monday that the federal government's mad cow testing procedure was violated when a condemned cow in Texas was sent to a rendering plant before tissue samples could be collected for testing.
A USDA veterinarian at a Lone Star Beef plant in San Angelo, Texas condemned the animal "after observing the cow stagger and fall, indicating either an injury or potentially a central nervous system disorder or other health condition," USDA said.
USDA said no part of the animal, killed on April 27, entered the human food chain.
"Standard procedures call for animals condemned due to possible CNS (central nervous system) disorder to be kept" until federal officials collect samples for testing, the USDA said. "However, this did not occur in this case," according to a USDA statement.
The statement did not explain why standard procedures were not followed and USDA officials were not immediately available for comment

They wouldn't be hiding something, would they? And another meat packer petitions the USDA to allow 100% testing of their cattle.

Gateway petitions USDA to allow it test all of its cattle for BSE

May 3, 2004
Meatingplace.com
Daniel Yovich
http://www.meatingplace.com/
Gateway Beef Cooperative President Robbie Meyer said he has mailed U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman a letter requesting permission to perform voluntary bovine spongiform encephalopathy testing of 100 percent of the cattle slaughtered at Gateway's facility.
The letter, a copy of which is posted on the Overland, Mo.-based co-op's Web site, says co-op officials believe 100 percent voluntary testing for BSE is a viable way for independent processors to compete by reestablishing their niche market share. Last month, USDA declined to approve a similar petition from Arkansas City, Kan.-based Creekstone Farms, which had reached an agreement with the Japanese government that the company's beef would be welcome for import to that country if all of it were tested for BSE.