Mad Cow Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Mad Cow Blog

The wall to keep Mad Cow Disease out of America was erected somewhat higher last week.  This week, the debate is whether that action resulted from a true concern by the soon-to-be outgoing Bush Administration about health or was it the required cave-in to get South Korea to once again import American beef.

The blog, OMB Watch, put it this way:

FDA's announcement came as a bit of a surprise since OMB seemed content to allow the rule to languish under its review while the cattle industry continued to avoid further regulation. The turning point came at a meeting between U.S. and South Korean officials on trade. According to the Wall Street Journal,  "South Korea last week agreed to lift restrictions on U.S. beef and, according to one U.S. government official, the country did so on the condition that the U.S. strengthen its livestock feed rules."

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) said the regulation first proposed in 2005, barring certain cattle materials from all animal feed, including pet food, protects animals and consumers against bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, also known as "mad cow disease").

Some details from FDA:

The new measure builds on FDA's 1997 feed regulation, which prohibited the use of certain mammalian proteins in ruminant feed.

The materials that can no longer be used in animal feed are the tissues that have the highest risk for carrying the agent thought to cause BSE. These high risk cattle materials are the brains and spinal cords from cattle 30 months of age and older. The entire carcass of cattle not inspected and passed for human consumption is also prohibited, unless the cattle are less than 30 months of age, or the brains and spinal cords have been removed. The risk of BSE in cattle less than 30 months of age is considered to be exceedingly low.

The removal of high-risk materials from all animal feed will further protect against inadvertent transmission of the agent thought to cause BSE, which could occur through cross-contamination of ruminant feed (intended for animals with four-chambered stomachs, such as cattle) with non-ruminant feed or feed ingredients during manufacture and transport, or through misfeeding of non-ruminant feed to ruminants on the farm. The added measure of excluding high-risk materials from all animal feeds prevents any accidental feeding of such ingredients to cattle.

Today's regulation finalizes a proposed rule that the FDA issued for public comment in October 2005. The final rule is effective 12 months from today to allow the livestock, meat, rendering, and feed industries time to adapt their practices to comply with the new regulation. Under the new requirements of the final rule, renderers that process cattle not inspected and passed for human consumption must make available for FDA inspection their written protocols for determining the age of cattle and demonstrating that the brain and spinal cords of cattle have been effectively removed

OMB Watch's Matt Madia summed it up this way:

Nonetheless, it's a sad commentary that the Bush White House is more responsive to the concerns of the South Korean government (and the domestic producers who will benefit from increased exports) than to its own food safety agency or considerations of public health. The rule is fairly typical of Bush's cronyism approach to regulation: "Fight tooth-and-nail against government intervention, unless it would help out my buddies."

But bottom line, new policies are now in place that could prevent an outbreak of mad cow disease. The rule takes effect in April 2009

The FDA news release is  here.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Food industry lobbyists are crawling about the Executive Office of Management & Budget to stop approval of new regulations that would give consumers the right to know which retail outlets were supplied tainted meat that’s subject to recall.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) first sent the right to know regulations over to OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in February 2005. They’ve been hung-up there ever since.

USDA renewed its call for the new regulations after the 143 million pounds of beef was recalled when its became known that at least some “downer” cows were processed by the Chino slaughterhouse.

Once “downer” cows reach the food supply, experts say there is a much greater risk of humans contracting “Mad Cow” disease.

About a third of the Hallmark/Westland beef went to school lunch programs, but the other two thirds went into the overall retail chain. Consumers were left clueless by the federal government and the food industry.

OMB Watch, an independent blog, is down and dirty with what’s going on:

While the rule would be a step in the right direction, the devil is in the details (as it so often is with the Bush administration). Insiders say the new rule may only apply to Class I recalls. USDA classifies recalls based on the potential risk to public health; Class I recalls are for products which pose the highest risk, Class II and III recalls are for products which pose lower risks.

Most meat recalls are Class I (50 of 58 in 2007), but consumers have a right — and a need — to know about Class II and III recalls as well. For example, USDA classified an April 2007 recall of more than 5,000 pounds of salami as a Class II recall but also called the health risk "high."

For more on the behind-the-scenes rule making, go here

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

The  Virginian-Pilot has reported on the death of a 22 year old woman that may be related to a variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, known as vCJD, a rare degenerative brain disorder that has been linked to consumption of contaminated beef.

The V-P reports:

A 22-year-old woman who may have had a rare degenerative brain disorder that has been linked to eating beef from cattle infected with mad cow disease has died.

The story can be found here.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

We could really gross you out with this one.   Elkhorn Valley Packing in Harper, KS is  voluntarily recalling 406,000 pounds of frozen cattle heads because the tonsils were not completely removed.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service requires that tonsils from cattle of all ages be removed as a specified risk material that may possibly be an infectious agent for mad cow disease.

The product recall from Elkhorn Valley Packing is for various weight bulk boxes labeled "Beef Whole Heads, Keep Refrigerated." Each shipping package bears the establishment numbers EST 19549A inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as a package code of 91700 or 93700.

The other cow parts that are banned from the human food chain include the skull and brain, eyes, small intestine, and vertabrat and spinal cord.  (See illustration from USDA)

The problem was discovered at a state-inspected processing company that received some of the products, which were packed before March 28, and verified that there had been incomplete removal of the tonsils.

There have been no reports of illness from the product and the recall is being listed as "low risk."

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

We always get a little discomfort whenever someone in the media gives themselves the title of "Watchdog."

Maybe its because we always think of the late Marvin Zindler, the Texas TV consumer reporter who during one ratings period decided to force the shutdown of a rural brothel.  It was the story that musical "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" was based upon.   Since he died last August 1st, I won't say more about Marvin.  But here's his picture.

At the Kansas City Star, its Watchdog was recently asked about the death of Milton Eugene Rebarchek, specifically whether it was "related to Mad Cow."  Here's how the Watchdog replied:

The man’s death was not related to “mad cow.” Instead, it was Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, says Joe Blubaugh, spokesman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

And Blubaugh says that you can breathe easy because Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD, is far different than mad cow.

Blubaugh says about three people die of CJD each year in Kansas.

The Watchdog says, fortunately, you probably have more to fear from mad dogs than mad cows

We do not think that is a very good answer.  Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) are both prion diseases.  We reported Mr. Rebarchek's death as being a case of confirmed CJD.   We said CJD is related to BSE because they are both prion dieases.  

Here's what the Centers for Disease Control has to say about Prion Diseases:

Prion diseases or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are a family of rare progressive neurodegenerative disorders that affect both humans and animals. They are distinguished by long incubation periods, characteristic spongiform changes associated with neuronal loss, and a failure to induce inflammatory response.

The causative agent of TSEs is believed to be a prion. A prion is an abnormal, transmissible agent that is able to induce abnormal folding of normal cellular prion proteins in the brain, leading to brain damage and the characteristics signs and symptoms of the disease. Prion diseases are usually rapidly progressive and always fatal.

As our readers know, we've followed news and developments involving all kinds of Prion Disease and the investments being made in Prion research.   So don't make this subject too cute and simple, no matter how many mad dogs there are in Kansas City.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

A suspected victim of  Mad Cow Disease has been identified and his death by Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease confirmed.

Milton Eugene Rebarchek of Monument, Kansas died in January and now the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center confirms he died of C-J, which is related to Mad Cow Disease, and  turns the brain tissue spongy.

Mr. Rebarchek's identity and National Prion's findings were made public by his brother, Frank Rebarchek of Scott City,  Kansas.   The victim worked in a packing plant 15 or 20 years ago, according to the brother.

Where the victim was exposed remains unkown.   The incubation period for C-J disease can run to decades and the diagnosis requires testing brain tissue.  It is always fatal.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob can come from blood transfusions and can be hereditary in very rare cases. On average, 250 to 300 cases are reported in the United States

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

The largest beef recall in United States history occurred largely because of video evidence that at least a couple "downer cows" made it into the food supply.

Now comes word from the Animal Welfare Institute, a 57-year old non-profit that wants to abolish so-called "factory" farming and achieve humane slaughter practices, that it has records from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) of 501 humane-handling or slaughter violations involving "downer cows."

The violations apparently occurred in the 18 months prior to March 2004.    The records tell of a downed cow being pushed 15 feet with a forklift. Other companies were cited for dragging downed but conscious animals, letting downed cattle be trampled and stood on by others and, in one case, using "excessive force" with a rope and an electric prod to get a downed cow to stand.

The USDA records indicate that more than 10 percent of the humane-slaughter violations issued by the department involved animals, mostly cattle, that could not walk.

"Downer cows" are much more likely to be carrying diseases like Mad Cow, E. coli, and salmonella.   Since an undercover video tape surfaced of a Chino, CA slaughterhouse that was forcing "downer cows" into the "knock" or kill box, USDA has been under pressure to stop such animals from entering the human food supply.

For more, check out the USA Today story here.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

From reading the newspapers today, you would think that Steve Mendell, who owns Westland and managed Hallmark, who were partners in the Chino slaughterhouse, was given a rough time on Capitol Hill yesterday.

Mendell gave the impression that he is not a very curious man.   He had not looked at a second Humane Society video tape that actually showed "downer" cows being forced into the "knock" box at the Chino slaughterhouse.   That narrated video was the "smoking" gun that caused the United States Department of Agriculture to demand Mendell make the largest recall of beef in US history.

USDA was suppose to send him a copy.  It never did.  He never bothered to go looking for it on the Humane Society website where it was available to anyone.  After it was shown to him by the House Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations, Mendell amended his testimony to acknowledge that at least two "downer" cows had made it into the food supply in violation of USDA policies.

Sure, Mendell went through some discomfort before the Subcommittee.  He clearly does not like watching the Humane Society video tapes.  He wanted to say the tapes showed there was an animal welfare problem, not a food  safety issue.  After the second tape, he had to admit to both.

For the most part, however, Mendell came across as a victim.  A  CEO who could produce documents, training manuals, and numerous government and third party audits.   But, he was personally clueless as to what was going on in the pens and on the floor of the slaughterhouse.  "Obviously, my system broke down," he said.

Best places to go for stories are: The Chicago  Tribune; The New York Times; and the Los Angeles Times.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link