Bush Administration Wants To Limit Mad Cow Testing

The Bush administration on Friday urged a federal appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has that authority.

The government seeks to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy demand from overseas customers in Japan and elsewhere.

Less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows are currently tested for the disease under Agriculture Department guidelines. The agency argues that more widespread testing does not guarantee food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers. Read more

[Annie]

No more beef for us! Read "Mad Cowboy" by Howard Lyman, the cattle rancher who won't eat beef. THAT will turn you into a believer. There is also currently a poorly publicized case of CJD that looks to be the human variant of mad cow. No doubt the Cattlemen's Association will see to it that this poor teenager will never become known. She has never left this country. We're finding mad cow in the very few animals tested. Eat at your own peril!

[HIIslander]

I am no scientist, but how do you get a false positive from testing for mad cow? What about tesing it twice, like they do for papiloma?

[History Buff]

I think the gov does not want 'we the people' to know that it is really NOT Alzheimer's that is getting worse in the population. It is Mad Cow Disease, which acts a lot like Alzheimer's.

Only an autopsy and a very expensive test on the deceased can find it, per family request.