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Feb. 22nd, 2007 05:06 pmI really fail to understand why people who are familiar with the same information as I continue eating beef. Seriously, mad cow disease is a prolonged and nasty way to die. You lose your mind, you lose control of your central nervous system, and eventually you are rendered immobile and mute before you finally expire.
The government doesn't let private beef ranchers test their own cattle, at their own expense, but people think I am paranoid?
this is from 2004
The Department of Agriculture refused yesterday to allow a Kansas beef producer to test all of its cattle for mad cow disease, saying such sweeping tests were not scientifically warranted.
The producer, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, wanted to use recently approved rapid tests so it could resume selling its fat-marbled black Angus beef to Japan, which banned American beef after a cow slaughtered in Washington State last December tested positive for mad cow. The company has complained that the ban is costing it $40,000 a day and forced it to lay off 50 employees.
The department's under secretary for marketing and regulation, Bill Hawks, said in a statement yesterday that the rapid tests, which are used in Japan and Europe, were licensed for surveillance of animal health, while Creekstone's use would have ''implied a consumer safety aspect that is not scientifically warranted.''[!!!!!!!}
Lobbying groups for cattle ranchers and slaughterhouses applauded the decision, but consumer advocates denounced it, saying the department was preventing Creekstone from taking extra steps to prove its product was safe.
Under the Virus Serum Toxin Act of 1913, the department decides where cattle can be tested and for what.
Consumer groups accused the department of bending to the will of the beef lobby, saying producers do not want the expense of proving that all cattle are safe or the damage to meat sales that would result if more cases of mad cow are found.
Also, from today's news:
Mad-cow scrutiny is scaled way back
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently scaled back mad-cow testing by more than 90 percent [PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT UP UNTIL NOW THE USDA WAS TESTING 1%, THAT'S ONE PERCENT OF THE COWS BEING SLAUGHTERED; NOW THAT 1% TESTING RATE IS BEING SCALED BACK BY OVER 90%, DO THE MATH], leading to closure of the WSU lab and several others around the country. The agency has backed off plans for a mandatory animal-tracking system, which can help identify the source of an infection and other animals at risk, and now says the program will be voluntary.
Several of the unappetizing — and risky — practices that came to light in the wake of the initial mad-cow case are still allowed, including the use of cow blood as a food supplement for calves.
Also, someone, please tar and feather Joe Lieberman.
I think I have to add him to my list of people [George Bush, Ralph Nader] who comprise the category of "if you support them, you are either stupid, or evil, and I want nothing to do with you."
The government doesn't let private beef ranchers test their own cattle, at their own expense, but people think I am paranoid?
this is from 2004
The Department of Agriculture refused yesterday to allow a Kansas beef producer to test all of its cattle for mad cow disease, saying such sweeping tests were not scientifically warranted.
The producer, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, wanted to use recently approved rapid tests so it could resume selling its fat-marbled black Angus beef to Japan, which banned American beef after a cow slaughtered in Washington State last December tested positive for mad cow. The company has complained that the ban is costing it $40,000 a day and forced it to lay off 50 employees.
The department's under secretary for marketing and regulation, Bill Hawks, said in a statement yesterday that the rapid tests, which are used in Japan and Europe, were licensed for surveillance of animal health, while Creekstone's use would have ''implied a consumer safety aspect that is not scientifically warranted.''[!!!!!!!}
Lobbying groups for cattle ranchers and slaughterhouses applauded the decision, but consumer advocates denounced it, saying the department was preventing Creekstone from taking extra steps to prove its product was safe.
Under the Virus Serum Toxin Act of 1913, the department decides where cattle can be tested and for what.
Consumer groups accused the department of bending to the will of the beef lobby, saying producers do not want the expense of proving that all cattle are safe or the damage to meat sales that would result if more cases of mad cow are found.
Also, from today's news:
Mad-cow scrutiny is scaled way back
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently scaled back mad-cow testing by more than 90 percent [PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT UP UNTIL NOW THE USDA WAS TESTING 1%, THAT'S ONE PERCENT OF THE COWS BEING SLAUGHTERED; NOW THAT 1% TESTING RATE IS BEING SCALED BACK BY OVER 90%, DO THE MATH], leading to closure of the WSU lab and several others around the country. The agency has backed off plans for a mandatory animal-tracking system, which can help identify the source of an infection and other animals at risk, and now says the program will be voluntary.
Several of the unappetizing — and risky — practices that came to light in the wake of the initial mad-cow case are still allowed, including the use of cow blood as a food supplement for calves.
Also, someone, please tar and feather Joe Lieberman.
I think I have to add him to my list of people [George Bush, Ralph Nader] who comprise the category of "if you support them, you are either stupid, or evil, and I want nothing to do with you."
