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Is BSE Testing Cattle For "FOOD SAFETY"?

Mike

Well-known member
BSE rules breached
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UNITED KINGDOM: Over thirty-month-old heifer untested for BSE enters the food chain.
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The British Food Standards Agency has launched an investigation into how an Over Thirty Month (OTM) heifer entered the food chain without being tested for BSE.

Testing of all cattle that are over thirty months at slaughter is mandatory if they are intended for human consumption.

The heifer had its specified risk material removed – those parts of the animal that would contain more than 99 percent of any infectivity that would be present if the animal had BSE.

Because of this, the FSA says that any risk to human health from this heifer would be extremely low.

The majority of the meat from the animal, which was slaughtered on November 30 at the ABP abattoir in Shrewsbury in England, was sold fresh to catering suppliers, with the remainder going for sale in retail packs.

The FSA said that all of the meat will have passed its use-by date, even if frozen by the consumer.

A full investigation, with the cooperation of ABP Shrewsbury, into the circumstances of this incident is underway.

Since the OTM BSE testing regime came into force in November 2005, about 400,000 OTM cattle have been slaughtered in the UK for human consumption.

This is the third occasion the FSA is aware of when an OTM bovine has entered the food chain untested.

January 25, 2007
 

TimH

Well-known member
Mike,
I suppose that some(especially in the UK) could make the argument that BSE testing of OTM cattle is a food safety issue.(never mind that 99% of the infectivity is found in SRMs)
However, approx. 85% of the cattle slaughtered in the USA and Canada are well under 30 months of age.
Blanket testing of UTM cattle is a waste of money........unless you are selling test kits. :)
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
TimH said:
Mike,
I suppose that some(especially in the UK) could make the argument that BSE testing of OTM cattle is a food safety issue.(never mind that 99% of the infectivity is found in SRMs)
However, approx. 85% of the cattle slaughtered in the USA and Canada are well under 30 months of age.
Blanket testing of UTM cattle is a waste of money........unless you are selling test kits. :)

Or beef to Japan and that is the only way the consumer will accept it....
 

TimH

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
TimH said:
Mike,
I suppose that some(especially in the UK) could make the argument that BSE testing of OTM cattle is a food safety issue.(never mind that 99% of the infectivity is found in SRMs)
However, approx. 85% of the cattle slaughtered in the USA and Canada are well under 30 months of age.
Blanket testing of UTM cattle is a waste of money........unless you are selling test kits. :)

Or beef to Japan and that is the only way the consumer will accept it....

I guess you forgot, Alzheimer :) , Japan is importing UNTESTED UTM BONELESS BEEF, even as we speak. The keyword is UNTESTED. Someone over there is obviously buying it.
If you "forget" again I will be happy to remind you. AGAIN!! :D
 

Mike

Well-known member
TimH said:
Mike,
I suppose that some(especially in the UK) could make the argument that BSE testing of OTM cattle is a food safety issue.(never mind that 99% of the infectivity is found in SRMs)
However, approx. 85% of the cattle slaughtered in the USA and Canada are well under 30 months of age.
Blanket testing of UTM cattle is a waste of money........unless you are selling test kits. :)

If we are harvesting 90 million animals per year and 85% are under 30 months..........that means that about 13-14 million are OVER 30 months.

I just dread the day that an indigenous case of vCJD hits the newspapers here...............................................

It's gonna be ugly. :shock:
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
TimH said:
Oldtimer said:
TimH said:
Mike,
I suppose that some(especially in the UK) could make the argument that BSE testing of OTM cattle is a food safety issue.(never mind that 99% of the infectivity is found in SRMs)
However, approx. 85% of the cattle slaughtered in the USA and Canada are well under 30 months of age.
Blanket testing of UTM cattle is a waste of money........unless you are selling test kits. :)

Or beef to Japan and that is the only way the consumer will accept it....

I guess you forgot, Alzheimer :) , Japan is importing UNTESTED UTM BONELESS BEEF, even as we speak. The keyword is UNTESTED. Someone over there is obviously buying it.
If you "forget" again I will be happy to remind you. AGAIN!! :D

…U.S. beef at just one-tenth of what they were…



U.S. beef imports low 6 months since ban ended



01/30/2007

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Japan



Lingering fears about mad cow disease and tight government restrictions have kept imports of U.S. beef at just one-tenth of what they were, even though a ban was lifted six months ago.

The volume of imports has recovered steadily, but the latest figures are about 2,000 tons a month, a fraction of the 20,000 tons recorded before imports stopped.

Saturday marked six months since the lifting of a ban on imports first imposed in December 2003 after a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was discovered in the United States.



Since the ban was lifted in July, 8,540 tons of U.S. beef have been imported through Jan. 19, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.



The U.S. government has kept the pressure on Tokyo to ease its condition restricting imports of beef from cattle 20 months old or younger.



The requirement is proving an expensive burden on exporters, and prices for U.S. beef are higher now than before the ban.



"Purchasing prices are 1.5 times to three times higher than before," an official of the Japan Foodservice Association said. "Most managers in the food service industry say it is too costly to use U.S. beef even if they want to use it."

Most supermarket operators are not selling U.S. beef.



"We need to judge carefully whether customers feel secure when they buy U.S. beef," said an official at Aeon Co., a grocery chain that does not sell American beef.



On the other hand, an employee of a supermarket that has resumed the sales said customers are divided. "While some are willing to buy the beef and say it tastes good, others adamantly refuse to buy it."



The U.S. Meat Export Federation expects that exports to Japan will increase from spring as more cattle 20 months old or younger are ready for slaughter.



The federation estimates exports will rise to between 6,000 and 8,000 tons a month.



Still, exporters complain that Japan's import conditions are too strict compared to the standards of the World Organization for Animal Health, which accepts beef from cattle up to 30 months old.



A dealer involved in U.S. beef exports to Japan has noted the production costs of beef for export to Japan is higher, as producers face extra tasks, including strict certification for the cattle's age in months.



Facing pressure from the industry, the U.S. government is on the offensive.



Earlier this month, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns and United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab asked Japan's visiting agriculture minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka to ease import conditions. They also sent a letter to that effect to Tokyo on Jan. 19.



Still, the government maintains a cautious stance. Talking about the request to ease import restrictions at a news conference Friday, Matsuoka said, "We think our prime responsibility is gaining the understanding and consent of consumers."



(IHT/Asahi: January 30,2007)



asahi.com
 

TimH

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
TimH said:
Oldtimer said:
Or beef to Japan and that is the only way the consumer will accept it....

I guess you forgot, Alzheimer :) , Japan is importing UNTESTED UTM BONELESS BEEF, even as we speak. The keyword is UNTESTED. Someone over there is obviously buying it.
If you "forget" again I will be happy to remind you. AGAIN!! :D

…U.S. beef at just one-tenth of what they were…



U.S. beef imports low 6 months since ban ended



01/30/2007

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Japan



Lingering fears about mad cow disease and tight government restrictions have kept imports of U.S. beef at just one-tenth of what they were, even though a ban was lifted six months ago.

The volume of imports has recovered steadily, but the latest figures are about 2,000 tons a month, a fraction of the 20,000 tons recorded before imports stopped.

Saturday marked six months since the lifting of a ban on imports first imposed in December 2003 after a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was discovered in the United States.



Since the ban was lifted in July, 8,540 tons of U.S. beef have been imported through Jan. 19, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.



The U.S. government has kept the pressure on Tokyo to ease its condition restricting imports of beef from cattle 20 months old or younger.



The requirement is proving an expensive burden on exporters, and prices for U.S. beef are higher now than before the ban.



"Purchasing prices are 1.5 times to three times higher than before," an official of the Japan Foodservice Association said. "Most managers in the food service industry say it is too costly to use U.S. beef even if they want to use it."

Most supermarket operators are not selling U.S. beef.



"We need to judge carefully whether customers feel secure when they buy U.S. beef," said an official at Aeon Co., a grocery chain that does not sell American beef.



On the other hand, an employee of a supermarket that has resumed the sales said customers are divided. "While some are willing to buy the beef and say it tastes good, others adamantly refuse to buy it."



The U.S. Meat Export Federation expects that exports to Japan will increase from spring as more cattle 20 months old or younger are ready for slaughter.



The federation estimates exports will rise to between 6,000 and 8,000 tons a month.



Still, exporters complain that Japan's import conditions are too strict compared to the standards of the World Organization for Animal Health, which accepts beef from cattle up to 30 months old.



A dealer involved in U.S. beef exports to Japan has noted the production costs of beef for export to Japan is higher, as producers face extra tasks, including strict certification for the cattle's age in months.



Facing pressure from the industry, the U.S. government is on the offensive.



Earlier this month, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns and United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab asked Japan's visiting agriculture minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka to ease import conditions. They also sent a letter to that effect to Tokyo on Jan. 19.



Still, the government maintains a cautious stance. Talking about the request to ease import restrictions at a news conference Friday, Matsuoka said, "We think our prime responsibility is gaining the understanding and consent of consumers."



(IHT/Asahi: January 30,2007)



asahi.com

Good article Oldtimer, if there was any mention of BSE testing in it , I must have missed it. :roll:
 

flounder

Well-known member
Mike said:
TimH said:
Mike,
I suppose that some(especially in the UK) could make the argument that BSE testing of OTM cattle is a food safety issue.(never mind that 99% of the infectivity is found in SRMs)
However, approx. 85% of the cattle slaughtered in the USA and Canada are well under 30 months of age.
Blanket testing of UTM cattle is a waste of money........unless you are selling test kits. :)

If we are harvesting 90 million animals per year and 85% are under 30 months..........that means that about 13-14 million are OVER 30 months.

I just dread the day that an indigenous case of vCJD hits the newspapers here...............................................

It's gonna be ugly. :shock:



YOU should dread even more the day the world wakes up to the truth, and that being the ukbsenvcjd only theory is [email protected]


Other work presented suggested that BSE and bovine amyloidotic spongiform
encephalopathy (BASE) MAY BE RELATED. A mutation had been identified in the
prion protein gene in an AMERICAN BASE CASE THAT WAS SIMILAR IN NATURE TO A
MUTATION FOUND IN CASES OF SPORADIC CJD.


snip...



http://www.seac.gov.uk/minutes/95.pdf




3:30 Transmission of the Italian Atypical BSE (BASE) in Humanized Mouse

Models Qingzhong Kong, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Pathology, Case Western Reserve
University

Bovine Amyloid Spongiform Encephalopathy (BASE) is an atypical BSE strain
discovered recently in Italy, and similar or different atypical BSE cases
were also reported in other countries. The infectivity and phenotypes of
these atypical BSE strains in humans are unknown. In collaboration with
Pierluigi Gambetti, as well as Maria Caramelli and her co-workers, we have
inoculated transgenic mice expressing human prion protein with brain
homogenates from BASE or BSE infected cattle. Our data shows that about half
of the BASE-inoculated mice became infected with an average incubation time
of about 19 months; in contrast, none of the BSE-inoculated mice appear to
be infected after more than 2 years.

***These results indicate that BASE is transmissible to humans and suggest that BASE is more virulent than
classical BSE in humans.***


6:30 Close of Day One


http://www.healthtech.com/2007/tse/day1.asp




SEE STEADY INCREASE IN SPORADIC CJD IN THE USA FROM
1997 TO 2006. SPORADIC CJD CASES TRIPLED, with phenotype
of 'UNKNOWN' strain growing. ...


http://www.cjdsurveillance.com/resources-casereport.html



There is a growing number of human CJD cases, and they were presented last
week in San Francisco by Luigi Gambatti(?) from his CJD surveillance
collection.

He estimates that it may be up to 14 or 15 persons which display selectively
SPRPSC and practically no detected RPRPSC proteins.


http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/transcripts/1006-4240t1.htm


http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/transcripts/2006-4240t1.pdf




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