Mad CoW - Blocking voluntarily testing

[FriendlyFire]

U.S. government fights to keep meatpackers from testing all slaughtered cattle for mad cow


WASHINGTON: The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease.

The Agriculture Department tests fewer than 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. A beef producer in the western state of Kansas, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, wants to test all of its cows.

Larger meat companies feared that move because, if Creekstone should test its meat and advertised it as safe, they might have to perform the expensive tests on their larger herds as well.

The Agriculture Department regulates the test and argued that widespread testing could lead to a false positive that would harm the meat industry.

A federal judge ruled in March that such tests must be allowed. U.S. District Judge James Robertson noted that Creekstone sought to use the same test the government relies on and said the government didn't have the authority to restrict it. - A federal judge ruled in March that such tests must be allowed. The ruling was scheduled to take effect June 1, but the Agriculture Department said Tuesday it would appeal, effectively delaying the testing until the court challenge has played out.

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is linked to more than 150 human deaths worldwide, mostly in Britain.

Three cases of mad cow disease have been found in the United States. The first, in December 2003 in Washington state, was in a cow that had been imported from Canada. The second, in 2005, was in a cow born in Texas. The third was confirmed last year in an Alabama cow.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/29/america/NA-GEN-US-Mad-Cow.php
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/30/administration-fighting-mad-cow-testing/#comments

There worried that there might be a positive result ? and so they Bann testing for CJD. Dosnt make any sense at all.


EDIT: form comments in TP. Pretty scarey
EDIT: Questional scourse for this so called "study" which links to someones blogg site.

Many US Alzheimer’s Victims
Actually Die From Mad Cow/CJD

‘At Yale University and the Penn State University at Pittsburgh, researchers recently studied the brains of people who died of Alzheimer’s disease (46 in the Yale case and 54 in the Pittsburgh study). Surprisingly, the autopsies respectively showed that 13 percent and five percent of the dead were actually CJD cases misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s disease.’

http://www.rense.com/general46/many.html

 

[skadistic]

Larger meat companies feared that move because, if Creekstone should test its meat and advertised it as safe, they might have to perform the expensive tests on their larger herds as well.

Its all about cost. The amount of cases of MCD in human food is extreamly limited and to test every cow would make an already costly food more costly. If you had an idea of how many cows would need to be tested and how much it would cost you'd see why its not a great thing.

 

[FriendlyFire]

We were working in the same direction. The Japanese pay about $50 for the test and $30 for tracking the carcass. Each carcass is serialized. And, I would be more than willing to pay for it!

Dose anyone know how much this would add to the cost of meat ? IIRC a cow is worth about $3000

So the cost to consumers would be what 2.5%
EDIT: Figures are not checked but if someone can procide cost and testing so we can get an idea.

 

[Red Door]

Its all about cost. The amount of cases of MCD in human food is extreamly limited and to test every cow would make an already costly food more costly. If you had an idea of how many cows would need to be tested and how much it would cost you'd see why its not a great thing.

I don't know about you, but I'd rather spend a little extra on meat than eat it with the risk of contacting MCD.

 

[skadistic]

Number of cows and calves slaughtered every 24 hours in the US: 90,000

From:
http://www.foodsafetynow.org/page273.cfm (may or may not be accurate)
$80 x 90,00 x 365 = 2,628,000,000 Thats alot of money. For a less then negligable chance of finding a problem. If there were a rash of mad cow It would be worth it.

And even if you eat an infected cow you have to eat the spinal or brain meat. That T-bone has an even less of a chance passing mad cow ontop of the allready far reaching chance.

I don't know about you, but I'd rather spend a little extra on meat than eat it with the risk of contacting MCD.

I'd rather not spend money on something thats not needed.

 

[History_Buff]

This is all nonsense. If Creekstone feels like testing every cow, and put a little sticker on all thier products, bravo. It's a perfect way for a smaller producer to compete in a large market. If the other companies don't like it, they don't have to do it.

As for the USG, seems like a rather strange irony from a country that has always advocated free enterprise.

 

[jamiethearcher]

I'd rather not spend money on something thats not needed.

Thats the best part about this - you can chose to purchase the cheaper, untested meat if you don't think its worth it. Personally, I would prefer to pay a little more for beef I knew was safe, and again, under this proposal, we would each have the ability to purchase the meat we preferred - because its one producer volontarily testing all its meat rather than an industry wide requirement.

 

[Neomega]

this is an example of government regulation stifling the way capitalism is supposed to work.

They want to be able to test all their cattle, and certify it as safe, and the government says no... why, beause giant cattle factories don't want the extra cost to compete.

A great example of regulation destroying the merits of the free market.

 

[woody60707]

This is all nonsense. If Creekstone feels like testing every cow, and put a little sticker on all thier products, bravo. It's a perfect way for a smaller producer to compete in a large market. If the other companies don't like it, they don't have to do it.

I wouldn't pay more for this meat, there is reason too. I am more likely to get hit my lightning then die from MCD/CJD. But people have the right to waste there money on this if it makes them feel better. but the government DOESN'T have the right to butt it's ugly head in to this. Just taking this to court like this is almost criminal.

It's your money, you should have the right to spend/waste it as you wish.

 

[woody60707]

@ FriendlyFire:

It looks like you need to do another edit. Unless you thinks site that thinks Jews are thinking over the world, bombs where used in 9/11 and over half the links go to other sites such as inforwars.com and such is a trustworthy cite. Attached is a pic of the mine site.

I Google some of the key facts and the college it says did the study, no such study was done. It all seems to be made up. This is just one of many fake papers that get spread around the internet and repost may times, but never backed up. Look at snoops.com, it full of e-mails like this.

Link Between Mad Cow Disease and Human Deaths Questioned But I did find this when googling/fact checking your link. and this Mad Cow Disease Overview. "There is no evidence that people can get mad cow disease from eating muscle meat-which is used for ground beef, roasts, and steaks-or from consuming milk or milk products."

You have to eat nerve tissue, not the meat to get CJD. This really is much too do about nothing. no one ever got CJD in the US, and you can't get CJD from a steak.

But how you spend your own money is your choice, not mine, AND NOT THE GOVERNMENT'S!

 

[Abaddon]

How about not feeding your cows mangled carcass from diseased and dead animals? Think that would be cheaper than testing.

 

[FriendlyFire]

yeap should have check the link for before posting it. (its from the comments not the artical in question)

From what I know CJD test are done to the cows spin and brain the areas which most likely to show signs of this. Which are destroyed (burnt ?). In past practices these rubbish cuts were ground up and refeed to cows as feed. This practices is essentiall banned. Other farming practices like feeding fermented feaces to pig are thankfully also banned. But probable that modern farming practises have some impact on the meat we eat in same way.

Certain cuts of beef are used in sausages, pies, hotdogs as well as preserved salami meats are most likely to contain cjd. (Bone / grizzle finding its way into our digestive system). Then say a t-bone steak (think proccessed meats)
Early detection and destruction is preferable to suddenly finding that CJD is in the system.

Voluntery testing imo should be allowed as well as mandatory testing for all "downer" cows. (i,e cows which collapse and cannot stand up) Still with the banning of canninablism of bone into feed CGJ should natruely decline.

anyway as Mobboss would say: If you have nothing to hide why worry ?

 

[nivi]

If this is true then it is just a huge mistake, and I thought they were pro free market?

 

[bhsup]

Okay, I can understand making a company do the tests of they don't want to, but trying to prevent them from doing the tests?! It's their company and if they want to spend money on it, why in the heck is the government interfering? This means more jobs (testers), possibly safer meat supply (not sure if the risk is really that great to begin with), and frankly good news for Kansas (as opposed to YEC in schools and such).

 

[Pontiuth Pilate]

Its all about cost. The amount of cases of MCD in human food is extreamly limited and to test every cow would make an already costly food more costly. If you had an idea of how many cows would need to be tested and how much it would cost you'd see why its not a great thing.

I would say something cutting and witty in reply to this absurd post, but the fact that your next burger will contain several grams of cowhorsehocky and assorted viscera is really rebuttal enough, neh?

Read any book - I don't care which book, ANY book - about slaughterhouses.

The OP is pretty much the tip of the iceberg. If everyone knew how meat got to their plate, the beef companies would be out of business tomorrow. Federal regulation of this is a disgrace.

 

[nivi]

Also, if they started wholesale testing of the cows, the price of the test is likely to come down.

 

[skadistic]

I would say something cutting and witty in reply to this absurd post, but the fact that your next burger will contain several grams of cowhorsehocky and assorted viscera is really rebuttal enough, neh?

Read any book - I don't care which book, ANY book - about slaughterhouses.

The OP is pretty much the tip of the iceberg. If everyone knew how meat got to their plate, the beef companies would be out of business tomorrow. Federal regulation of this is a disgrace.

I worked in a slaughter house thank you. Now try living life by living it instead of reading about it. Hush now boy the adults are talking. Unless you have some thing more then lame attempts at witty. Tell me how my statement is factually wrong.

 

[Samson]

And even if you eat an infected cow you have to eat the spinal or brain meat. That T-bone has an even less of a chance passing mad cow ontop of the allready far reaching chance.

Tell me how my statement is factually wrong.

While the CNS tissue is the most infective, there plenty of other tissues that have been shown to have significant levels of prions (the infective particals). In particular lymph nodes and intestinal immune tissue IIRC are likely to get into the human food chain.

 

[woody60707]

While the CNS tissue is the most infective, there plenty of other tissues that have been shown to have significant levels of prions (the infective particals). In particular lymph nodes and intestinal immune tissue IIRC are likely to get into the human food chain.

he is right tho, That T-bone steak, or any steak is 100% safe.