When it comes to testing U.S. cattle for mad cow disease, the USDA
doesn't really want to mandate any sort of testing at all. Even with
countries like Japan banning all US beef due to our country's lack of
mandatory testing requirements, the USDA continues to resist creating
new regulations that would raise the safety of US beef to the much
higher standard of Japan and the UK.
The USDA
wants to exempt young cattle from any mad cow disease testing
whatsoever, and they think the cutoff age should be 30 months. But mad
cow disease has been found in cattle as young as 21 months, and in
Europe, three cows under 30 months of age have been diagnosed with mad
cow disease in the last three years. But the USDA insists that mad cow
disease simply cannot exist in cattle younger than 30 months due to its
incubation time.
I have an alternate explanation: the USDA is simply
protecting the cattle industry from anything that might increase costs.
The health of the public be damned: the United States doesn't want to
test cows because it is afraid that testing might reveal the mad cow
disease problem to be even more widespread than previously feared. And
that, of course, would harm the sales of red meat even further. Put
another way, the USDA is now following a "don't ask, don't tell" policy
for mad cow disease.
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher, author and award-winning journalist with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, and he has created several downloadable courses on survival and preparedness, including his widely-downloaded course on personal safety and self-defense. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In mid 2010, Adams produced TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing website offering user-generated videos on nutrition, green living, fitness and more. He's also a noted pioneer in the email marketing software industry, having been the first to launch an HTML email newsletter technology that has grown to become a standard in the industry. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and martial arts training.
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Friday, January 30, 2004
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