Flaw is found in testing of feed
GAO questions safeguard against mad cow disease
By LIBBY QUAID
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Government investigators say testing can be too slow to prevent cattle from eating feed that might be contaminated, a flaw they cited in a program to help stop mad cow disease from spreading.
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Feed safeguards are the most important firewall against mad cow disease, said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who sought the report by the Government Accountability Office.
"If FDA's testing program is not catching violations, and catching them in time, that needs to be corrected immediately," Harkin said Wednesday.
FDA disputed the findings, arguing that the report unfairly focused on a small component of broad government efforts to stop mad cow disease.
The only way mad cow disease is known to spread is through feed containing certain tissue from infected animals. Adding animal protein to feed is done to speed growth, but the U.S. has banned cattle protein in cattle feed since 1997.
Run by the Food and Drug Administration, the feed testing program is a small part of the campaign to keep mad cow disease out of the food chain.
In half the feed samples analyzed, FDA took more than a month to determine whether banned cattle protein was present. Cattle feed is eaten quickly after it's manufactured, and the feed may have been consumed before tests were finished, the GAO said.
Bill Hyman, executive director of the Independent Cattlemen's Association of Texas, said he didn't think the testing times were anything to worry about because there are other safeguards to protect feed.
"This is just to be sure the safeguards in place are being followed. What we're doing today is plenty adequate," he said. "It's like checking the octane in the gasoline. The state takes a sample and takes it back to the lab to test, but the gas is sold by the time the results come."
Chronicle reporter Purva Patel contributed to this report.
