Mad Cow in U.S. Raises Aliment Assurance Questions

The USDA says the apprehension of the California cow and its abatement from the aliment alternation shows that our aliment assurance affairs is working. But critics say we've aloof been lucky.

Since 2006, the USDA has been testing alone 40,000 beasts a year for mad cow ache (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE). But anniversary year we annihilation 35 actor cattle. That bureau 99.9% of beasts are not tested. According to a 2006 USDA estimate, about one in a actor U.S. beasts carries the disease.

"Our analysis affairs is so small, we are in no position to apperceive if added of it is out there," Jean Halloran, administrator of aliment action initiatives at Consumers Union, the action arm of Consumer Reports, tells WebMD. "Even if BSE occurs spontaneously at a amount of one in a million, we would acquire three cases a year. And we are abrogation a aperture accessible for this to broadcast and amplify."
Only USDA Can Analysis for Mad Cow Disease

Amazingly, the USDA won't let anybody abroad analysis beasts for BSE -- not alike beasts producers themselves.

 

In 2006, a close alleged Creekstone Farms set up a testing ability and asked the USDA for the test. Creekstone capital to advertise its Angus beef to Japan, which won't acquire abstinent beasts over 20 months old. But the USDA banned to authorization the analysis to Creekstone. In a breach decision, an appeals cloister upheld the USDA's position.

The USDA's position is that aback the accelerated BSE analysis can't ascertain aboriginal BSE infections, the analysis can't be acclimated to accredit -- or bazaar -- beef as BSE-free. But Consumer Reports argues that absolution companies analysis would at atomic access the cardinal of tests at industry expense.

"Japan tests every beastly at slaughter. They apperceive that already in a while one will blooper through. But that's bigger than absolution them all blooper through," Halloran says.

In aegis of the USDA, BSE testing acceptable would not ascertain the ache in afresh adulterated animals. Why?

BSE is acquired by a accretion of aberrant proteins (called prions) in animals' brains. It takes two to eight years -- bristles on boilerplate -- for an beastly to advance BSE symptoms. The accelerated analysis can't ascertain BSE until an beastly is on the border of symptoms. Best U.S. aliment beasts -- but by no bureau all -- are collapsed afore they are 2 years old.
Mad Beasts From Beef Feed?

There's addition issue. The acumen why mad cow ache became a botheration is that ground-up beasts were actuality put in beasts feed. The FDA banned this convenance in 1997. The USDA credibility to this ban as a above bureau in the assurance of U.S. beef.

But chickens can be accustomed augment absolute pellets of ground-up beef.

"Chickens are blowzy eaters. They beating a lot of this pelletized augment on the attic -- again they ambit up the craven clutter and augment that aback to the cows," Halloran says.

It takes years for a being adulterated with BSE to advance the baleful animal ache alleged alternative Creutzfeldt-Jakob ache or vCJD. Are there cases out there cat-and-mouse to be diagnosed?

The USDA thinks not. The bureau credibility to its affairs of prohibiting meat renderers from application any academician or spinal-cord tissues in any aliment artefact as able-bodied as to its testing program.

"The assurance of our aliment is addressed through our chain safeguards and abatement of any blazon of actual that contains the BSE abettor in the U.S.," USDA Chief Veterinary Officer John Clifford said bygone in a video account release. "Our livestock citizenry is one of the healthiest in the world. Consumers should be assured in our aliment supply."

Halloran says that consumers afraid about BSE in meat can abate their accident by alienated cuts of beef best acceptable to address the disease. Organ meats, she says, are the atomic safe, followed by cartilage and by arena beef articles such as sausage and hamburger.

But there may be a bigger way to break safe: Buy 100% grass-fed or certified amoebic beef.

Clifford maintains there's no account for concern.

"Our aliment assurance analysis account oversees assembly to accomplish abiding abstracts like academician and analgesic bond are removed appropriately and not accustomed to access the aliment supply," he says.