USA: Too little testing for mad cow, critics say

Recall renews mad cow worry

March 13, 2008

After the country's first mad cow case was found in 2003, the federal government ramped up testing cattle for the fatal disease.

But in 2006, officials scaled it back by 90 percent, citing the "extremely low" incidence of the disease in the United States.

Today, about 40,000 -- or 0.1 percent -- of the 37 million cows slaughtered each year are tested, a number that consumer groups say is too low, especially when compared to testing programs in other countries.

"Don't look, don't find" might be a more apt way of describing this country's testing program, said Michael Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumers Union.........

Source: Too little testing for mad cow, critics say

Link: PETA: 'Feeding Kids Meat is Child Abuse'
Link: Risky Cattle Use Needs Tough Penalty - US Lawmakers


Other EVANA-articles about this topic:
Questions on U.S. Beef Remain (en)

SKorea Cabinet offers to resign over beef imports (en)

USA/BSE: Who's mad? (en)

USA: Bush Administration fights testing for BSE (en)

USA: How reliable is BSE testing? (en)