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

Cattlenetworks reports that Sify.com reports scientists are working on a way to detect mad cow disease in cattle through an eye test making beef safer, culling infected cows sooner.

The test allows cattle to be tested before they enter the food supply. Scientist Jacob Petrich and colleagues say the human form of mad cow disease is contacted by eating infected beef. Beef contaminated with mad cow disease carries abnormal proteins, prions, implicated in a range of brain diseases.

The team of scientists is working on a way to develop tests looking for a chemical change in the animal’s retina revealing it’s affected by a prion disease. The team has already used a beam of light in an eye test to find a disease similar to mad cow disease in sheep. The test could provide a fast, inexpensive opportunity to detect diseases early.

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North American Bison Co-Op, a New Rockford, N.D., establishment is recalling approximately 25,000 pounds of whole beef heads containing tongues that may not have had the tonsils completely removed, which is not compliant with regulations that require the removal of tonsils from cattle of all ages, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

Tonsils are considered a specified risk material (SRM) and must be removed from cattle of all ages in accordance with FSIS regulations. SRMs are tissues that are known to contain the infective agent in cattle infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), as well as materials that are closely associated with these potentially infective tissues. Therefore, FSIS prohibits SRMs from use as human food to minimize potential human exposure to the BSE agent.

The product subject to recall includes:

Various weight cases of "Beef Heads KEEP FROZEN." Each case bears the establishment number "EST. 18859" inside the USDA mark of inspection and a case code number "16999." "North Dakota Natural Beef" is printed in the bottom left-hand corner of each label.

The recalled products were produced between June 25, 2009, and February 19, 2010. These products were shipped to distribution centers in Md., Mich., and Minn. for further sale.

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Two U.S. congressmen have jointly presented a resolution calling on Japan to fully reopen its beef market to imports from the United States, Jerry Moran, one of the lawmakers said Thursday.

''It is time for Japan to fully open its markets to U.S. beef,'' said Moran, a Republican from Kansas. ''For several years now, Japan has used nonscientific standards to restrict access to high-quality U.S. beef products,'' he said.

The resolution was jointly introduced recently with Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri.

''Japan asks for fair treatment of their products and we are asking for the same fair treatment -- which means an adherence to internationally recognized, science-based trade standards,'' Moran said.

The release came ahead of a planned visit to Japan by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on April 5-9. Vilsack has said he will travel to Tokyo to ''increase export opportunities'' for U.S. farmers and ranchers.

''It is disappointing that a close ally like Japan insists on pursuing this unfair, damaging and ill-advised trade policy that not only hurts American cattlemen, but also Japanese consumers, who have always spoken clearly with their wallets in favor of American beef,'' Moran added.

Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of senators also submitted a similar resolution.

In addition, some observers say U.S. President Barack Obama's recent announcement of the doubling of U.S. exports over the next five years adds pressure on Tokyo to lift its restrictions on U.S. beef imports.

Japan and the United States are at loggerheads over Washington's insistence that Tokyo abolish its ban on imports of U.S. beef from cattle aged over 20 months.

Japan suspended all beef imports from the United States after the first U.S. case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease, was found in 2003. It later partially reopened the beef market with certain restrictions.

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The Alberta beef cow that is Canada's most recent case of mad cow disease was found dead on a farm and was destroyed without entering food or animal feed supplies, a spokesman with the Canadian government said on Thursday.

Canada Beef Export Federation president Ted Haney, who first confirmed the case in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, said he did not intend to suggest that the cow was slaughtered.

The animal was tested on the Alberta farm, he said on Thursday.

The 6-year-old cow's carcass was destroyed and disposed of as per Canada's requirements for specified risk materials (SRM), which are the parts of cattle that are most likely to carry mad cow disease, said Tim O'Connor of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The disease is also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

The Canadian government confirmed the case to industry officials on February 25 but did not publicly provide details on its website until late Wednesday.

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In just over a week, nearly 9000 people have joined a social networking group objecting to the Federal Government's decision to allow beef in Australia from countries affected by mad cow diseae.

The Facebook site, called Support Aussie Farmers - Say No To Imported Beef, says many consumers want imported beef clearly labelled in supermarkets.  Founder of the page, Donna Morrison from Drysdale in Victoria, says Australian consumers have a right to know exactly what they're eating.  "It just makes me so happy to find so many more people out there like myself that are passionate about this country, about its farmers and about our rights," she says.  "The majority of people and myself would prefer to support Australian farmers and back Australian farmers and eat Australian beef.

"It's the best in the world."

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Consumer groups concerned about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), sometimes referred to as "mad cow disease," are asking the FDA to ban the presence of poultry feces in cattle feed, according to the LA Times.

According to the story, advocates say that the feed in question, which includes "feces, spilled chicken feed, feathers and poultry farm detritus" -- increases the risk of cows becoming infected with BSE.

Michael Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumers Union says that the chicken feed and the feces contain tissue from ruminants -- cows and sheep, among other mammals. BSE can be transmitted to cattle through the consumption of ruminant remains. According to the article, the contamination need not be widespread to cause a problem.  "It takes a very small quantity of ruminant protein, even just 1 milligram, to cause an infection," said Steve Roach, public health program director with Food Animal Concerns Trust, a Chicago-based animal welfare group that is part of the coalition. Cattle industry representatives disagree with the need for a ban:

The National Cattlemen's Beef Assn., the beef industry's main trade group, said the ban was not needed and that several FDA reviews had determined that the chance of cattle becoming infected with mad cow disease from eating poultry litter was remote.

"Science does not justify the ban, and the FDA has looked at this now many times," said Elizabeth Parker, chief veterinarian for the trade group.

Interestingly, at least some of those in the business of selling beef directly to consumers share the consumer groups' concerns:

The practice also makes McDonald's, one of the nation's biggest beef purchasers, nervous. "We do not condone the feeding of poultry litter to cattle," it said in a statement.

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The Legislative Yuan will be able to review the protocol signed by Taiwan and the U.S. allowing the import of bone-in beef, lawmakers said yesterday.

The signing of the protocol on Oct. 23 touched off a wave of protests, with calls for a renegotiation of the agreement to exclude beef parts likely to cause bovine spongiform encephalopathy or mad cow disease. Local governments announced they would rally restaurants and shops against the sale of the beef from Nov. 10.

President Ma and other government officials have said that a renegotiation is out of the question because it would damage Taiwan's international reputation. They say the deal was at least as stringent as similar agreements the U.S. closed with South Korea and EU.

Foreign Minister Timothy Yang denied yesterday that the government had given in to U.S. demands in order to achieve visa-free access to the country for Taiwanese tourists. Earlier, officials also rejected accusations that the beef decision had been made to obtain a new start for talks about a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.

Meanwhile, American Institute in Taiwan Director William Stanton was backtracking on an earlier comparison he made. He had said the risk of dying from mad cow disease by eating U.S. beef was less than from riding a motorcycle in Taiwan traffic.

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J.F. O'Neill Packing Company, an Omaha, Neb., establishment is recalling approximately 33,000 pounds of beef tongues that may not have had the tonsils completely removed, which is not compliant with regulations that require the removal of tonsils from cattle of all ages, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

Tonsils are considered a specified risk material (SRM) and must be removed from cattle of all ages in accordance with FSIS regulations. SRMs are tissues that are known to contain the infective agent in cattle infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), as well as materials that are closely associated with these potentially infective tissues. Therefore, FSIS prohibits SRMs from use as human food to minimize potential human exposure to the BSE agent.

The following product is subject to recall:

* " Various weight cases of "BEEF TONGUES." Each case bears the establishment number "EST. 889A" inside the USDA mark of inspection and were sold under the following brand names:

"J.F. O'NEILL PACKING CO.," "WHOLE FOODS NATURAL," "WHOLE FOODS ORGANIC," "PREMIER PROTEIN PARTNERS," "MONTANA RANCH BRAND," "GRASSLAND BEEF," "AUSTIN MEATS," "MORGAN RANCH," "KOBE BEEF AMERICA," "IMPERIAL WAGYU BEEF," "BRAND ADVANTAGE WAGYU," "BRAND ADVANTAGE PARTNERS," "YAMAYA U.S.A.," and "A.D. ROSENBLATT."

The company is recalling all products packed between July 1, 2009, and October 8, 2009. These products were shipped primarily to distribution centers in Nebraska and California for further sale to restaurants, hotels and institutions.

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The AP is reporting that Japan suspended beef shipments from a Tyson Plant  over its failure to remove cattle parts, specifically bovine spinal columns,  banned under a bilateral agreement.  Japanese officials are concerned about  mad cow disease.  According to the A.P.:

Japanese quarantine inspectors found bovine spinal columns in one of 732 boxes shipped from Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., which arrived in Japan in late September, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said. The box contained 35 pounds (16 kilograms) of chilled short loin with spinal bones, which were not released commercially, said ministry official Goshi Nakata.

The suspension only affects Tyson's factory in Lexington, Nebraska, one of 46 meatpacking plants approved to export beef to Japan.

The same plant also had Japanese export suspended in February 2007 for a similar problem.

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