USA: Bush Administration fights testing for BSE

June 2007

After the first U.S. case was BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a.k.a. “mad cow disease”) was confirmed in 2003, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef requested permission to voluntarily test for the disease every animal it planned to process. Doing so would help the company bypass embargoes on U.S. beef and get its meat back into foreign markets. The USDA denied Creekstone’s request, stating: “…consensus [of international experts] is that 100 percent testing is not justified.”(...)

The Agriculture Department regulates the test and argued that widespread testing could lead to a false positive that would harm the beef industry. Creekstone sued the USDA in 2006, and last March it was ruled that the government doesn’t have the authority to restrict the test and the company could begin testing as of June 1st. However, the USDA says it will appeal...

Source: Bush Administration fights testing for BSE
Author: Farmed Animal Net

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