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

February 20, 2006

Knight-Ridder Tribune
Editorial, The Wisconsin State Journal

Dire predictions that mad cow disease would quickly spread through U.S. herds have so far proved false. But that's no excuse for settling for second-best in policies to guard against the brain- wasting condition.

The federal Food and Drug Administration settled for second-best in the plan it proposed last fall to keep mad cow disease from entering the food chain for cattle. The FDA should upgrade the plan by tightening its limits on the ingredients allowed in cattle feed.

A recent Canadian case of mad cow disease, combined with a recent discovery about the transmission of the disease and a surprising revelation about a related disease in deer, called chronic wasting, em phasized the need for swift and strict FDA action.

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February 21, 2006

The Associated Press

Kana Inagaki

TOKYO -- Japan will resume imports of U.S. beef only if Washington can convince Tokyo that it will implement effective safeguards against mad cow disease, a top Japanese official said Tuesday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said the government was still examining a U.S. Department of Agriculture report on the faulty veal shipment that prompted Japan to close its markets to American beef last month.

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February 18, 2006

Knight-Ridder Tribune

Eiji Hirose, The Yomiuri Shimbun

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said 29 head of so-called downer cattle slaughtered for human consumption could not walk not because they had mad cow disease, but due to injury or other factors, it was learned Saturday.

According to a report released by the U.S. Agriculture Department on Feb. 2, at least 29 head of downer cattle were slaughtered for human consumption between June 2004 and April 2005. Such cattle are banned for consumption to safeguard consumers from contracting bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the scientific name for mad cow disease.

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February 12, 2006

The Calgary Herald

Gina Teel

When it comes to mad cow disease, or BSE as scientists prefer to call it, Dr. Jean-Philippe Deslys is the go-to guy.

One of the world's leading authorities on BSE and top researchers in the area of prions, the misfolded proteins linked to BSE, the Paris-based Deslys is part of an International Research Advisory Council. The council will provide strategic direction to the newly minted $35-million Alberta Prion Research Institute.

Head of the Prion Group at the French Atomic Energy Commission, Deslys is also project coordinator for the European Network of Excellence or NeuroPrion, and is an advisor to the World Health Organization and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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The initial bull market for beef created huge trade for low-priced, good quality meat. But it also opened the door to food safety and health issues.

Food Creation, FoodProcessing.com

By Chuck Jolley

www.foodprocessing.com

Big beef has had big problems lately, most of them related to high volume production. E. coli and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) ó ìmad cowî disease ó are the biggest of these problems.

The deadly strain of E. coli known as 0157:H7 first surfaced over a decade ago with the infamous Jack in the Box crisis in the Northwest. Several children died and two giant industries ó restaurant chains and beef processors ó had to struggle to get a handle on the problem. The beef industry realized it had to take greater care in handling carcasses during the slaughter process; restaurants had to absolutely insure they cooked ground beef to a minimum internal temperature of 160˚F. Serving a rare burger became professional Russian roulette.

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