FDA Unveils Proposal to Fight Mad Cow

[RC]

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8D1JNCG0
FDA Unveils Proposal to Fight Mad Cow
By LIBBY QUAID Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - Wednesday, October 05, 2005

WASHINGTON

Seeking to close a gap in the nation's defense against mad cow disease, the Bush administration on Tuesday proposed to eliminate cow brains and spinal cords from feed for all animals, including chickens, pigs and pets.

The government already bans virtually all cattle remains from cattle feed. The new proposal from the Food and Drug Administration "will make an already small risk even smaller," acting FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach said.

The new proposal would reduce the risk of infection by 90 percent, said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine. After a public comment period, the rules should take effect sometime next year, he said.

However, critics said the new proposal falls far short of what FDA had promised 19 months ago, after the nation's first case of mad cow disease was confirmed. At that time, FDA said it would add three other items to the list of materials banned from cattle feed: blood, restaurant plate waste and poultry litter. All are potential pathways for mad cow disease.


<Snip>
The feed rules are important because the only way cattle are known to get mad cow disease is from eating feed containing contaminated cattle remains.

[shadowknows69]

1. Yeah, they said they were gonna do this

like 3 years ago when the first case was found. So should be another 5 or so until it's actually implemented.

[OKthatsIT]

19. They were told to stop this practice 8 yrs ago

....what are you going to do.


We never eat BEEF outside of our home. We buy organic.

[Benhurst]

2. Poultry litter dangerous? Does this confirm my suspicions

that poultry may be harboring the disease?

If so, what is to prevent poultry (fed on animal waste just as
cattle have been) from transmitting the disease directly to humans? Could the disease be passed on through the eggs of infected hens?

:shrug:

[kestrel91316]

4. The concern is that the cattle remains fed to poultry will pass

through in their feces and contaminate poultry litter, which is then fed BACK to the cows. As far as prion disease actually occurring in poultry and then being passed on to humans, I don't know that there is any evidence of that.

If you are THAT worried about prion diseases, you should be a vegetarian, IMHO. I continue to consume poultry and don't worry about it, because I refuse to spend my entire life worrying. I do too much of it as it is.

[Benhurst]

7. Thanks, kestrel91316. I am a vegetarian; but I do eat

eggs, only organic ones from range chickens, for humanitarian reasons, not out of a fear of prions, so I'm not personally worried.

I do wonder though, given the animal products being fed to chickens if they might harbor the disease, but show no symptoms since they have such short lives.

There was an article a while back which maintained even produce such as lettuce could carry prions if it had been fertilized with bone meal.

News is going to be hard to come by, though, since so many big economic interests are at stake.

Thanks for your reply. :hi:

[kestrel91316]

13. There are a LOT of unanswered questions with prions and their

associated diseases. I am afraid the powers that be don't want to know the truth, and they REALLY don't want US to know the truth.

Follow the money.

[cliss]

15. Same here, B.

We saw the light a few years ago. After the first known case of mad cow disease broke out in England, we put an end to meat-eating.

We are now vegetarians. We just finished dinner. I tried out a new recipe; a delicious vegetarian moussaka from a gourmet magazine. Also heavenly home-made minestrone soup.

I don't worry any more about infected meat. And to be honest, we eat much better now.

[CountAllVotes]

18. I won't eat it either

When I found out that they are feeding the chickens ground of spinal cords and brains of cattle, that did it for me. Haven't eaten red meat in over 3 years now and no, I don't miss it one bit either (nor the price!).

:kick:

[Benhurst]

16. Thanks, cliss and Kestrel for your input.

:hi:

[Divernan]

3. Restaurant Plate Waste ?!?!?! Good grief ! ! !

That's the first I've heard about that as a potential source. Am I missing something, or doesn't that admit that the meat we are served in restaurants is seen as a possible carrier of the disease?

From what I've read about the FDA's inspection regs, and how poorly even those are enforced, what we need are tests of every single head of cattle. Right now, the FDA refuses to lower the age at which cattle must be tested, even though the disease has been found in cattle younger than the FDA screens. Further, as to even eyeballing cattle to see if they look sick, at the meat processing plants, animals are moved past the FDA inspector at 8 to 10 at a time, so that he/she can barely get a look at the first two. If they can still walk, they'll make it into the food chain.

These new regs put the burden and cost on the people who raise the cattle, not the meat packers. Long term that means, that if someone comes down with the disease and wants to sue, they would have an impossible time tracing the source of infected meat, and at best would be going after some individual rancher, and not Big Meat Processors.

[kestrel91316]

5. Bottom line:

STOP FEEDING ANIMAL PRODUCTS TO HERBIVORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sheesh. Why do people have to do such stupid things????

[Tesha]

8. You answered your own question: "Bottom line!"

> STOP FEEDING ANIMAL PRODUCTS TO HERBIVORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> Sheesh. Why do people have to do such stupid things????

You answered your own question with your subject: "Bottom line!"

Tesha

[kestrel91316]

14. I know (heavy sigh).

[warrens]

6. After reading the comments...

I covered the press conference yesterday. This is bogus; Lester Crawford was about to introduce a ban that would have eliminated all cattle products from all animal feed, or at least all infectious ones. The brain and spinal column are perhaps the most dangerous of the parts, but Canada is banning eyes, tongues, the entire skull, tonsils, intestines, etc. and Crawford said just before he mysteriously resigned that our ban would be nearly identical. Obviously, to me anyway, they got rid of him because it would cost the beef industry nearly half a billion dollars a year if the entire ban had been instituted.

Poultry litter is an issue because cattle parts can be fed to chickens and turkeys, and the litter contains up to 30% spilled feed, which is then ground up and fed back to cattle. There is no proof whatsoever that prions cannot survive a chicken's digestive system. It takes cooking to over 600 degrees to destroy prions, in effect incinerating them. I doubt it gets up to 600 inside a chicken.

This whole thing stinks on ice.

[pushycat]

11. Poultry LITTER ground up w/spilled feed ? How much $$ does

that save on production costs? Whew - whoever thought up that recipe should be made to eat it themselves first !!!!! yuk

[Coventina]

9. Why do we need to "fight" mad cow? Chimpy says it's not in the US

So why worry?

:shrug:

:sarcasm:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. It's time somebody did something about Ann Coulter.

(I can't believe I was the first to say this!)

[Javaman]

12. Here's a idea, how about they inspect the fucking meat!!!!

Every single one like they do in Japan. Then fine the violators that put dead animals in the feed. And make it a heavy fine.
Damn, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out.

Read, "Fast Food Nation" and you will see that just limiting the feed that these animals get will not solve the problem. Check the water they drink. It's filled with all kinds of shit, literally. Check the "pastures" that they live in. They are filled with all sorts of heavy metals. And stop shooting them up with all sorts of antibiotics and god knows what.

Checking the feed is a start but it's a small part when you take everything else into account.

Buy organic grass feed beef, I never did, until I understood the logic behind it.

[lateo]

17. I have an idea...

Stop feeding the cows bits and pieces of other cows...

[MagickMuffin]

20. I too am a vegetarian

although I still eat seafood.

But don't you be worrying yourselves sick over this one bit. The FDA is considering using cloned animals as food sources. The link below is an article about that very issue.

I don't think they have our best interest at heart when they make decisions based on the profits of the industry.
I have a great concern over genetically modified food "Frankenfood" I have started having problems after eating certain foods, that I have never had problems with in the past. When you cross fish with tomatoes, something definitely smells fishy! I'm not making this stuff up, by the way.

So, I think it is of great concern when we don't know what the food industry is doing to our food supply.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/05/AR2005100502074.html?referrer=email

[VegasWolf]

21. Plan calls for a news blackout on all but the Faux Nues network! nt