Update on Mad Cow Disease

S.T.O.P. welcomes the announcement by USDA Secretary Veneman of new measures to minimize the risk of mad cow disease in the United States. S.T.O.P. has been asking for stronger versions of these measures and more for years!

These new measures include:
·Banning downer cattle from the human food chain. Downer cattle are animals that are unable to rise due to neurological disease, broken limbs, or undetermined reasons.
·Holding meat products from suspect cattle until test results are complete.
·Prohibiting use of skull, brain, trigeminal ganglia, eyes, vertebral column, spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia from cattle over 30 months old at time of slaughter.
·Prohibiting the use of small intestines from all cattle in the food supply.
·Requiring establishments that use Advanced Meat Recovery Systems (AMR) to utilize process controls that ensure that neither spinal cord nor dorsal root ganglia is present in product.
·Banning air-injection stunning of cattle.
·Prohibiting the use of mechanically separated meat for human food.

It remains to be seen whether or not these new measures will prove to be effective. Unfortunately, S.T.O.P. has learned from experience that USDA often promises good measures but fails to implement and enforce them adequately to protect human health. In addition, while these new steps are a move in the right direction, they are not as comprehensive as those in place in the European Union.

An additional roadblock in controlling the emergence and spread of BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) in our domestic food animals is the piecemeal approach by our federal government. While FDA has jurisdiction for animal feed and USDA has jurisdiction at animal slaughter, neither agency has the regulatory authority or presence on farms or feedlots to mandate effective policies at these critical control points.

Please stay tuned as S.T.O.P. monitors implementation of the new measures. We will keep you informed of the progress in the fight against mad cow disease.

View more press releases.