Thread: Court Rules: USDA Can Stop Mad Cow Test

August 30, 2008

Court Rules: USDA Can Stop Mad Cow Test
General — walterj 8:26 am

In a bizarre twist of logic the US Court system has backed up the USDA ruling that they can prevent beef producer Creekstone from testing their own beef for mad cow disease (BSE). Creekstone wants to test their beef to prove it is safe for consumers. Why in the world would our government want to stop Creekstone from protecting consumers!?! Well, the USDA feels it must protect the other beef producers who would then be forced to do the same testing or lose sales to Creekstone. How horrible! For shame - we can’t have free enterprise!

The Bush administration can prohibit meatpackers from testing their animals for mad cow disease, a federal appeals court said Friday.

The dispute pits the Agriculture Department, which tests about 1 percent of cows for the potentially deadly disease, against a Kansas meatpacker that wants to test all its animals.

Larger meatpackers opposed such testing. If Creekstone Farms Premium Beef began advertising that its cows have all been tested, other companies feared they too would have to conduct the expensive tests.
The Bush administration said the low level of testing reflects the rareness of the disease.

Mad cow disease has been linked to more than 150 human deaths worldwide, mostly in Great Britain. Only three cases have been reported in the U.S., all involving cows, not humans.

A federal judge ruled last year that Creekstone must be allowed to conduct the test because the Agriculture Department can regulate only disease “treatment.â€

Linda Faillace: USDA Won’t Allow Mad Cow Tests

By Dennis Pacheco

Flickr: Creative Commons by Adam AnnfieldWhen the USDA declared war on Linda Faillace (Mad Sheep: The True Story Behind the USDA’s War on a Family Farm) and her tiny sheep farm in an effort to stave off criticism of the government’s mishandling of Mad-Cow Disease, she fought back. Ultimately, her entire herd was destroyed while Linda and her family could only stand by, helpless. Though the disease has never appeared in any sheep, the USDA had found its fall guy.

Now, this inept arm of the US government—which is responsible for the safety of the food we consume—is calling for less testing of American cattle for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (Mad-Cow disease) in the wake of test results that confirmed three cases of BSE in American cattle. Why is this happening?

How much longer should we defer to a governmental agency that has consistently failed to perform its duties? The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is charged with protecting the American food supply, yet not a week goes by without another food-related health scare seizing headlines across the nation: listeria in pasteurized milk; spinach contaminated with E. coli; and potentially unsafe meat from “downerâ€

The people are no longer in control. Both parties are Stalinist and no longer work for us. The number 1 enemy of the American people is our Gov.