(MAD?) Cow ID System May Be Delayed (immediate becomes 2 years)

[papau]

Our Media: :-) No mention of the fact that the Republican-controlled House has passed a catch-all bill that would postpone labeling for two years, a delay sought by meatpackers and grocery stores because of the cost. - Gee Two years - and now Tech delays - 2 years - as the Bush folks plan (hey - they started planning last year!) and now test 20,526 cattle out of 35 million killed last year, while European nations tested 19 million cattle last year and found 4,200 cases of mad cow disease, mostly in older cows, but with several younger animals, one only 20 months old, being diagnosed with the disease in recent years in Japan, England and Slovakia. And CBS and the NYT are the "fairer to Dems" media! sigh


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/01/health/main591089.shtml?cmp=EM8707

Cow ID System May Be Delayed
YAKIMA, Washington, Jan. 3, 2004


An animal identification system that the Agriculture Department has said would be put in place immediately to help safeguard the meat supply against mad cow disease is expected to take a year or two to phase in, The New York Times reports in its Saturday editions.<snip>

Results of DNA testing that should determine conclusively whether the original sick cow was born in Alberta, Canada, in April 1997 are expected next week, DeHaven said. <snip>

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/04/national/nationalspecial2/04BEEF.html

January 4, 2004
Jumble of Tests May Slow Mad Cow Solution
By SANDRA BLAKESLEE


The nation's first case of mad cow disease has led to urgent calls for more and better tests to screen animals at the slaughterhouse door.

But the universe of testing for this elusive disease is murky. The extent and nature of testing varies from country to country. The tests are not foolproof, and there are many to choose from in a heated international competition.

The leading test manufacturers are Bio-Rad based in France, Prionics AG in Switzerland and U.S. Abbott Laboratories, which recently acquired rights to a test developed in Ireland. But in addition, at least 54 other companies are vying for position in the lucrative world testing market.

Consumers may want a quick testing solution that will reassure them, but it is not likely to arrive soon.

The Agriculture Department announced on Wednesday it would no longer allow downed cattle — those that have trouble walking to the slaughterhouse under their own power — into the human food supply and will test some of them. How many has not been decided, although more than half a million animals fall into the downer category each year.

Those cows will still be used for pet food and other products, including tallow and cosmetic ingredients.<snip>

[Lefta Dissenter]

1. This is making me CRAZY!! (mad??)

We've been microchipping dogs, horses, llamas for HOW long now? It's cheap, and many vets already own the scanners. Providing scanners to State Labs, more vets would be minimal in cost compared to the lost sales in beef...

And the testing? A test that is not bullet-proof is better than no frickin test at all!!!

And I have a clever idea. How 'bout not letting the meat enter the food chain until we actually have results from the tests??? Novel concept, I know...

And one more thought - I DON'T WANT MY DOG EATING DOWNER COWS ANY MORE THAN I WANT TO EAT THEM!!!

Jeez, thank goodness we eat so little beef in our household. Ever since our son became a vegetarian about 7 years ago, we eat VERY little meat around here.

I'm happy to give up beef altogether, but I really feel bad for the farmers - just what we need - more family farms going bankrupt. :(

There, end of rant.

[Occulus]

4. Pull your head out of the sand.

The chances are you've already consumed downer beef products, even if you're a strict Veggie.

If you've ever eaten beef, or consumed any beef by-products, you're at risk.

Becoming Veggie now will do you no good. Having been Veggie for decades will do you no good.

Been vaccinated? It's my understanding that beef by-products are sometimes used in vaccines.

Drink milk? Ever? Prions/CJD could well be there, too. According to some reports, downer cattle have been used in foods since the 1960s.

I have it on very good authority that prions from downer cattle could be everywhere. Even in the bone meal some people use in their gardens. Beef by-products are used for far, far more than food.

"Jeez, thank goodness we eat so little beef in our household. Ever since our son became a vegetarian about 7 years ago, we eat VERY little meat around here."

This is exactly the attitude I'm getting peeved at. It doesn't matter if you're a Veggie now, for years, or whatever. To be safe, you would have had to have never, ever consumed any downer cattle, as would your mother, since this disease can jump the placental barrier.

You would have had to have been a Veggie from before conception. Not possible.

You're not safe, I'm not safe, no one is safe from this disease.

Period.

[Lefta Dissenter]

8. Wow, a little harsh perhaps?

nowhere did I say that 'haha, we're safe, you're not.'

I expressed my anger at the lack of testing, id'ing, and the fact that the government is willing to continue to allow downer cows into ANYONE's food chain, including my dogs'. The laws of statistics would tell one that the less beef you eat, the lower your odds of consuming infected beef.

I don't quite understand why you would jump on me like that! :shrug:

[Bridget Burke]

9. Here's a good parallel

(Only applies to those not in a monogamous relationship.)

If you haven't tested positive for HIV, you still could have been exposed. So don't bother to use protection.

[Gin]

2. they can take as long as they want....beef...it's what's NOT for dinner.

may the bastards who profit from harming the general public...suffer the consequences of their actions the same way their cattle do.

[havocmom]

3. Two years seems about right amount of time to put the family rancher

out of business and put more of our food production into the tender, loving hands of giant corporations.

And I read that clever spud farmers who had the sense to form co-ops to get their product to a consumer ready state are taking a hit now too. Potato growers have not seen any increase in the price they get for decades. In fact, prices often fall. By banding together to form co-ops which can take the raw product and turn it into a finished food to market themselves, they see a decent return on their investment.

Now those frozen potato products are 'sittin' on the dock of the bay' instead of heading for Japan. Why? Because of a short dip in hot oil which sometimes contains beef tallow, those products are no longer marketable. Thank those rabid, anti-regulator, slime ball corporate pigs!

Freedom fries, my tookus! The rush to 'get government off the backs of business' has risen up and bitten us in the arse yet again. Government regulations and inspections are for the common good and few here in the US seem to be grasping that important fact. Next time some guy in a suit spewing venom from an executive suite mouths off about getting government off their shoulders, somebody please test the SOB for a degenerative neurological disease!

[goforit]

5. Eat Organic Bison!!!.....Show the meat Industry consumers rule.

:tinfoilhat:

[ConcernedCanuk]

6. Ok - the ID is an issue, but what about the TESTING ???

.
.
. Japan tests EVERY cow, in Europe, all cows over 30 months sent to slaughter are tested: so I don't buy the millionaires whining about the "cost"

- Lotsa millionaires in the USA behind the poor struggling farmers

- Heaven help us if we wanna dip into those millionaires pockets !!

Interesting to note:

"Q: What is the key difference between the screening programs in Europe and Japan and the USA?

A: The European and Japanese screening tests take several hours. The samples are checked, and if they come back negative, the meat is released to the distributor. Positives are rechecked with the "gold standard" immunohistochemistry test, considered conclusive proof.

In the USA, only the immunohistochemistry test is used, which takes three to five days. Results in the past could take up to two weeks longer to get because all tests are sent to the USDA's lab in Ames, Iowa. "We've got the cart before the horse," says researcher David Westaway of the Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of Toronto. "The testing is backwards. You should use the fast tests that are easily interpreted to screen a whole stack of animals and then the ones that are positive you can double-check," he said. He called the North American system "silly."

/snip/

MORE at > > >

[Unforgiven]

7. 2 Years

Two years here, Two years there, what's the difference? Kinda like paper trail for voting machines, let's wait till after elections to deal with that problem. Ahhh,...............Corporate America, don't ya just love it!