Summary

Why? As explained in this article, the real answer may be because too much testing may reveal vast numbers of cattle to be infected with mad cow disease in the United States, and the USDA certainly doesn't want that to be front page news.

Remember: in the same way that the FDA protects drug companies, the USDA protects the very industries it's supposed to be regulating. And that makes the agency a public health hazard.

Original source:
http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2004Q1/beef.html

Details

• U.S. beef from 100 percent screened cattle determined to be free of mad In February, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, a slaughterhouse and meatpacker in Kansas, said it was going to build its own testing laboratory for mad cow disease, or BSE (for bovine spongiform encephalopathy).
• Currently the only USDA-approved laboratory for BSE testing is in Ames, Iowa, although the USDA says it's adding more labs in the near future.
• The USDA warned Creekstone Farms that it could face criminal charges if it carried out any independent testing.
• And when a Missouri rancher called the Ames facility to ask whether he could pay to have his cattle screened there, he was denied in no uncertain terms.
• Ingesting BSE-infected meat can lead to an always-fatal neurological wasting disease in humans called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.
• In one fell swoop, ten percent of the U.S. beef market--some $3 billion in international sales annually--collapsed, cattle prices plunged, and some industry sectors have had to lay off workers.
• Consumers Union, the non-profit interest group that publishes Consumer Reports, conducted a study in mid-January that found near-universal awareness of mad cow disease among those interviewed (more than 99 percent).
• Nearly one-third of survey participants said they are concerned or very concerned about the safety of U.S. beef, and over 70 percent said they would pay more to ensure that cattle going into the human food supply are BSE-free.
• Nearly half of the meat packers surveyed said they would consider testing every animal they process, if the tests had USDA approval.
• When told that the USDA forbade independent testing, one of his customers responded incredulously, "If people want to have their beef tested, they should be able to.

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