Guest guest Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 a whole lot of mad cow stories INSPECTOR TO FILE CHARGES AGAINST USDA: (09/06/05): " The federal meat inspector who was charged with misconduct by the U.S. Department of Agriculture after he claimed mad cow disease safeguards were being violated at slaughterhouses told United Press International he plans to file charges against the agency. Stan Painter, a USDA inspector and chair of the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals, the inspectors union, notified the agency's management in a letter last December he was aware of instances where the riskiest parts of older cows were not being marked or removed from processing. The USDA did not respond to Painter's concerns until he made his letter known to news outlets. For months, USDA officials denied Painter's allegations in media reports, saying they had investigated and found no evidence to substantiate his claims. The NRs [noncompliance reports] released last month under the Freedom of Information Act, however, showed 1,036 violations of SRM [specified risk materials] regulations in at least 35 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, with some plants being cited repeatedly for infractions. The USDA delayed releasing the documents for eight months despite a federal law mandating a response within 30 days. Sometime around June the U.S. Embassy in Japan posted a notice on its Web site stating USDA officials had found no evidence to substantiate Painter's claims and had requested a criminal investigation into his actions. The notice was removed in July after UPI reported its existence. " [Very edited from: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/lifestyle/consumerhealth/article_1046394.php/ Inspector_to_file_charges_against_USDA USDA EASES SLAUGHTER RULES ON MAD-COW: (09/08/05): " The government is easing rules intended to prevent the spread of mad-cow disease among people, allowing part of a cow's small intestine to be used as casing for some sausages. Rules in effect after discovery of the first U.S. case of mad-cow disease in 2003 required the removal of the small intestine when a cow was slaughtered. The Agriculture Department (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration cleared the way yesterday for a portion of the small intestine to be used as a casing for specialty sausage. The rules still prohibit use of the lower end section of the small intestine, called the distal ileum. Studies have shown the distal ileum can contain the infectious protein that causes mad-cow disease. The Agriculture Department now knows more about effectively separating the distal ileum from the small intestine, said [the USDA]... The department is aware of the financial hardship on businesses that make ethnic sausages... " [Edited from: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002479654_madcow08.html DENMARK CONFIRMS 14TH CASE OF MAD COW DISEASE: (09/09/05): " Denmark on Friday was cited by Agence France Presse as confirming its 14th case of mad cow disease after a nine-year-old dairy cow in the northern Jutland region was found to have been infected with the brain-wasting illness. " [Edited from: http://www.foodconsumer.org/777/8/Denmark_confirms_14th_case_of_mad_cow_disease. shtml GOVERNMENT TO REMOVE MAD COW CONTROL RULE: (09/15/05): " (Britain): The country's farm ministry said on Thursday it had accepted a proposal to allow some older cattle to enter the food chain, opening the way for the removal of one of the main measures used to combat the deadly mad cow disease. The news provided a major boost to the country's beef industry which was devastated in 1995 following an outbreak of mad cow in the nation's herds. The move was based on advice from the Food Standards Agency. " [Edited from: http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews & storyID=2005-09-15 T113208Z_01_FOR536305_RTRUKOC_0_UK-FOOD-BRITAIN-MADCOW.xml U.S. BAN ON JAPANESE BEEF CONTINUES: (09/20/05): " Angry with Japan for refusing to lift a mad cow-related ban on U.S. beef, senators retaliated Tuesday by voting to retain a ban on Japanese beef. Last fall, Japan agreed to lift the ban but still hasn't done so. In June, U.S. authorities confirmed a second domestic case in a Texas-born cow. Japan, in contrast, has found 20 cases of mad cow disease. U.S. regulators proposed last month to partially lift the ban on Japanese beef. Japan's stalling is " just unfair, " said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb. " There have been two cases of mad cow disease in the United States, one from Canada, " Nelson said in a Senate speech. " Statistically, it's nonexistent, in terms of the millions of head of cattle that are sent to slaughter every year. " The U.S. bans beef from all countries with confirmed cases of mad cow disease, including Japan. The exception is Canada, which resumed limited beef shipments in 2003 and live cattle shipments earlier this year. " [Edited from: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8CO5D482.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_ down & chan=db PRIONS OF MAD COW DISEASE COULD SHOW UP IN URINE: (10/18/05): " Prions responsible for the transmission of mad cow disease and scrapie could end up in urine, according to Swiss researchers. Prions are deformed brain proteins that are contagious and responsible for the transmission of all types of brain wasting diseases in cows, sheep, dear/elk, and humans. In the report scheduled to be published in the journal Science this month, Adrano Aguzzi and colleagues from the University Hospital of Zurich said prions could show up in urine under certain circumstances. For a long time, the government held a belief that prions (infectious agents) are mostly present in the brain and spinal cords. Because of this notion, many parts of cattle are still allowed for use in animal feed. Recent studies by others found prions are present in some organs including the liver. " [Very edited from: http://www.foodconsumer.org/777/8/Prions_of_mad_cow_disease_could_show_up_in_uri ne.shtml NEW GERMAN MAD COW CASE CONFIRMED IN BAVARIA: (10/25/05): " A new case of the deadly mad cow disease has been discovered in Bavaria, the German state's Ministry of Environment, Health and Consumer Protection said on Tuesday. This was the 139th case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) confirmed in a cow in Bavaria, the second most populous state in Germany and the largest in terms of land mass, the ministry said in a statement. " [Edited from: http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews & storyID=2005-10- 25T170737Z_01_KWA561628_RTRUKOC_0_US-MADCOW-GERMANY.xml & archived=False CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE FOUND IN MOOSE: (10/26/05): " Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a prion disease that resembles bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), has been found in a wild moose for the first time, Colorado wildlife officials announced recently. Previously the disease had been found in the wild only in deer and elk. The only previous finding of CWD in a moose was in an experiment in which a captive moose was fed some infective material... Will Hueston, DVM, an expert on BSE and related diseases, told CIDRAP News that the Colorado finding " demonstrates that the CWD agent has a broader range than we hoped. Everyone hoped it would be restricted to deer and elk. " CWD has now been found in wild deer and elk in eight states, including four states east of the Mississippi, plus two Canadian provinces, according to the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance, a coalition of wildlife conservation groups. " See also: June 2004 Emerging Infectious Diseases article on CWD http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol10no6/03-1082.htm Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance map of CWD-affected states http://www.cwd-info.org/index.php/fuseaction/about.map [Very edited from: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/other/bse/news/oct2605cwd.html FRANKENSTEER DEFINITELY SOMETHING TO BEEF ABOUT: (10/27/05): " Ever wonder what exactly is in that ground beef you buy at the supermarket? If you're like the majority of Canadian consumers, you may not want to know. Some things are better left well enough alone, right? Wrong - at least according to the creators of Frankensteer... The homegrown doc reveals what's really involved in the North American beef industry, including some startling facts about inspection rules, mad cow disease and the use of drugs and growth hormones. This is not a pro-vegetarian propaganda film, although the troubling revelations certainly inspire a meat-free lifestyle. " We have taken this benign, natural vegetarian and turned it first into a cannibal, and when that didn't work, into a vampire, " narrates Ted Remerowski, Frankensteer's writer. " We've turned its brain and spinal cord into toxic sites. We have managed to turn its feces into something that routinely makes us sick and occasionally kills us. We have taken the cow and used it as our experiment in developing the perfect food machine. " In the process, we've created our very own frankensteer. " [Very edited from from the scary article at: http://www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainment/Showbiz/2005/10/27/1280858-sun.html AUSTRIA: MAD COW DISEASE FOUND: (10/28/05): " A case of mad cow disease was found in a slaughterhouse in Salzburg in central Austria, veterinary officials said on Friday. It was the third case of mad cow in Austria since 2001, when adequate testing for the disease began. " [Edited from: http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1825447,00.html " Just as nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances there is a twilight. And it is in such twilight that we all must be aware of change in the air - however slight - lest we become unwilling victims of the darkness. " William O. Douglas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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