Mad Cow News For June Thru September 2009

How do we identify which farm produced a cow with Mad Cow Disease? Not very well.

US: Where's the beef?

Heaven, a Brown Swiss cow with expressive eyes and a patch of curly hair, has three ID cards. The inside of her left ear is tattooed with one number; yellow plastic name tags with another number dangle from both ears; and a silver clip with a third number clings to the top of her right ear.
The Obama administration thinks farm animals like Heaven should just have one number and one ID. Heaven's owner, dairy farmer Melissa Greenback of Durham, agrees. Some of Greenback's records refer to her 350 cows by one number, and some by another number, depending on the purpose.
"One uniform system would be beneficial," she says. Hartford Advocate Link

US: Gene mutation alone causes transmissible prion disease

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -– For the first time, Whitehead Institute researchers have shown definitively that mutations associated with prion diseases are sufficient to cause a transmissible neurodegenerative disease. EurekAlert Link

Sausage casings from bovines may present a BSE risk.

EU: Scientific opinion on BSE risk in bovine intestines

Summary
Following a request from the European Commission (EC), the Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the BSE related risk of bovine intestines used for casings. Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council stipulates that certain tissues from bovine, ovine and caprine animals must be considered as Specified Risk Material (SRM) and must be removed from the food and feed chain to protect the health of consumers against the risk of bovine transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (BSE) European Food Safety Authority

Human Error can still expose consumers to BSE risk.

UK: Three imported cows aged over 30 months enter food supply without being tested for BSE

The Agency has been notified that meat from three cows aged over 30 months, which were not tested for BSE, has entered the food supply.
As specified risk material (SRM) was removed and it is unlikely that the cows were infected with BSE, any risk to human health is extremely low. Food Standard Agency Link