FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 24, 2025

Contact:

Nancy Donley, S.T.O.P. President, Laurie Girand, S.T.O.P. Spokesperson, or Karen Taylor Mitchell, S.T.O.P. Executive Director - 1-802-863-0555.

SAFE TABLES OUR PRIOITY (S.T.O.P.) STATEMENT REGARDING THE DISCOVERY OF BSE IN AMERICA

“Americans should be very concerned about the cozy and cooperative relationship between USDA and the meat industry, especially under the current administration, which favors less regulation of business. USDA’s dual responsibilities as both regulator and food marketer here and abroad presents a clear conflict of interest. Consumers must question the merit and motive of unsubstantiated claims made by USDA that America has the safest food supply in the world.

“S.T.O.P. and other consumer organizations have repeatedly demanded from both the USDA and FDA (which is responsible for animal feed) regulations to better protect the American public from the threat of BSE and its human counterpart, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. S.T.O.P.’s comments are available at www.safetables.org . We have been repeatedly ignored. At a minimum, Americans deserve the same levels of protection that have been put in place by Great Britain and Europe.

“USDA’s claim that it tested nearly 21,000 cattle this year for BSE is laughable when you consider that parts of Europe test every cow that goes to slaughter. Furthermore, in the United States the animal is processed and its meat shipped before the test results are received. There are as many holes in USDA’s surveillance as there are in the brain of a cow afflicted with BSE.

“Undersecretary Murano’s claim that the central nervous tissues such as the spinal cord went to rendering and not into the food supply call into question whether these contaminated tissues could have been rendered into animal feed which would further exacerbate the problem. FDA’s enforcement ability to prevent commingling of this contaminated animal’s parts with feed that will be fed back to cattle is wholly insufficient.

“At minimum, the following measures should be implemented:

1. Downer cows should be prohibited from the food supply.
2. Further processing of removed spinal columns must be banned.
3. The commingling of meat from tens, dozens and even hundreds of cattle should be banned in the production of ground meat.
4. The US must implement and enforce a full ban on feed containing the rendered parts of animals.
5. USDA and FDA must be given mandatory recall authority and the authority to assess fines and penalties on companies that repeatedly violate food safety rules.
6. All rendering plants must be licensed and inspected.
7. Implementation of trace-back mechanisms to the herd of origin.
8. Country of origin labeling on all meat products.
9. Increased inspection by government personnel in meat plants and on farms that emphasize product inspection and not paperwork inspection.

“We demand that USDA err on the side of caution in dealing with this critical issue by putting the welfare of consumers first and foremost in their decision making.”