USDA Probe Finds Big Holes in Mad Cow Testing

[happynewyear]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A government investigation on Tuesday gave the U.S. Department of Agriculture (news - web sites) poor marks in testing cattle for mad cow disease, saying the agency was neglecting to test the majority of cattle most at risk.

"The problems identified during our review, if not corrected, may ... reduce the credibility of any assertion regarding the prevalence of BSE (news - web sites) (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in the United States," said the USDA's Office of Inspector General. A draft report was provided by the House of Representatives Government Reform Committee.

The report said that despite a much-advertised expanded surveillance program the USDA was not testing adult cattle that died on the farm and had failed to test hundreds of cattle condemned due to possible central nervous system disorder -- a symptom of mad cow disease and many other diseases.

"A process for obtaining samples from animals that died on the farm has not been developed," the report said.

link:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=594&e=1&u=/nm/20040713/hl_nm/madcow_usda_dc

I'm still not eating beef, no way ... more fuel for the fire we see here now. :scared:

[NC_Nurse]

1. Not one bit surprising!

I stopped eating beef when they first discovered it and I pray that was soon enough!

I keep hearing these people on NPR and regular news "reassuring" the public that beef iis safe and giving lame reasons why they don't test more. What a bunch of crap!

Where will they be in 10 years when people get sick?:grr:

[happynewyear]

2. they are getting desperate - were handing out cooked ribs in Safeway

the other day. I lectured the guy about Mad Cow. It didn't go over so hot but who cares. By the time I left, many people had walked away after hearing my words which were, "The government needs to step in NOW and do something about this! They need to test ALL of the animals! The food supply is CONTAMINATED for God's sake! Why don't people wake-up? and ... No I don't want any of this rotten infested food."

Yeek ...