Mad Cow Update
May 12th, 2008 at 11:50 am by Susie
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration on Friday urged a federal appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has that authority.
The government seeks to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy demand from overseas customers in Japan and elsewhere. Less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows are currently tested for the disease under Agriculture Department guidelines. The agency argues that more widespread testing does not guarantee food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers.
“They want to create false assurances,” Justice Department attorney Eric Flesig-Greene told a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. But Creekstone attorney Russell Frye contended the Agriculture Department’s regulations covering the treatment of domestic animals contain no prohibition against an individual company testing for mad cow disease, since the test is conducted only after a cow is slaughtered. He said the agency has no authority to prevent companies from using the test to reassure customers. “This is the government telling the consumers, `You’re not entitled to this information,”‘ Frye said….
Larger meatpackers have opposed Creekstone’s push to allow wider testing out of fear that consumer pressure would force them to begin testing all animals too. Increased testing would raise the price of meat by a few cents per pound….
The district court’s ruling last year in favor of Creekstone was supposed to take effect June 1, 2007, but the Agriculture Department’s appeal has delayed the testing so far.
Do you know the American Red Cross won’t take blood from people from some countries (like Ireland) because they might have been exposed to mad cow disease? And yet we are all probably already exposed also.
I love the line about meat packer fears, “Increased testing would raise the price of meat by a few cents per pound…” Wait till they get a load of what higher feed and gasoline prices do to a pound of beef!
Where in the rethug platitudes about all-powerful market forces does government determine what the market is? Let Market Forces work? My ass.
This is one reason I stopped eating animal products other than fish. There are other reasons as well, but most of them have to do with factory-farming conditions which are economically devastating to small farmers, are hard on workers as well as animals, and questionable practices such as the routine administering of antibiotics and growth hormone to cattle that are raised on corn even though their bodies can’t digest it, simply because corn is heavily subsidized.
And I’m thinking about dispensing with the fish as well, what with the mercury levels.
There are other options, such as joining a CSA, but I haven’t found any that have pickup times and locations that are convenient for me. And I can’t keep my own chickens on the fire escape.
“Beef … it’s what’s for dinn…ack! phhhttt … grrglll … “
Zuzu, small fish (sardines, anchovies, etc) are the safest in terms of mercury.