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Korea and the Creekstone Issue

Mike

Well-known member
05-12-2008 19:04

US Beef-Testing Method Raises Ire

By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter

An interesting issue surrounding the U.S. beef imports is what the Lee Myung-bak administration's stance will be toward the legal battles with which the U.S. government is struggling in order to block meat processing companies from testing all their animals for mad cow disease.

During the Roh Moo-hyun administration, Seoul tackled the issue in talks to resume U.S. beef imports, according to some officials at the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

One case in point is Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, a meat processor based in Arkansas, Kansas, which produced the first batch of U.S. beef exported to Korea after the three-year import ban was lifted in 2006. A U.S. government lawyer told a federal appeals court that Creekstone Farms Premium Beef shouldn't be allowed to test beef for mad-cow disease on its own as it could hurt the U.S. cattle industry.

In his argument to a court hearing over the weekend, Justice Department attorney Eric Fleisig-Greene said Creekstone Farms is ``creating a false assurance'' because the test Creekstone wants to use can't show that meat is completely free of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease.

The Bush administration made its request on Friday to the court that is considering overturning a ruling that allowed Creekstone Farms to test all its beef for mad cow disease.

According to U.S. consumer advocates, including the Minnesota-based Organic Consumers Association (OCA), Creekstone Farms wanted to assure customers that its cattle were safe to eat by testing every cow for mad cow disease. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has continued to block private companies from selling disease-testing kits to Creekstone, arguing that there was no significant mad cow disease problem in the country, the OCA said.

``Korea raised the (Creekstone-USDA) case in former talks to resume U.S. beef imports in September 2006,'' said an official at the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, who was one of the negotiators during the Roh government. He also said U.S. officials just replied that they follow global standards in regulations on cattle examinations.

Under the Lee administration, there has been no ministry official who highlighted the issue of voluntary mad cow disease tests among U.S. meatpackers in their interviews or briefings before the media.

``I believe the USDA's blockade for some meat processors' proposal to extend mad cow disease testing is to block fatal damages to the agriculture industry (from a possibility of more BSE detection),'' said Byun Hye-jin, a leader at the Korean Federation of Medical Groups for Health Rights.
Critics say the U.S. agriculture industry is the No. 2 political funding source for the Bush administration.

Following the detection of a bone fragment in 2006, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef was banned from being imported to Korea.

On Sunday, the Lawyers for a Democratic Society, also known as Minbyun, urged the National Assembly to conduct an investigation into the Lee government's ``insolvent'' beef talks with the U.S.

[email protected]
 

Bill

Well-known member
``I believe the USDA's blockade for some meat processors' proposal to extend mad cow disease testing is to block fatal damages to the agriculture industry (from a possibility of more BSE detection),'' said Byun Hye-jin, a leader at the Korean Federation of Medical Groups for Health Rights.

:oops: :roll: Gee d'ya think so???? Not only that but they got caught getting rid of the suspicious animals through the US school lunch program!!!!!
 

Mike

Well-known member
Bill said:
``I believe the USDA's blockade for some meat processors' proposal to extend mad cow disease testing is to block fatal damages to the agriculture industry (from a possibility of more BSE detection),'' said Byun Hye-jin, a leader at the Korean Federation of Medical Groups for Health Rights.

:oops: :roll: Gee d'ya think so???? Not only that but they got caught getting rid of the suspicious animals through the US school lunch program!!!!!

Funny that R-Calf backed Creekstone's testing plan?
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
"In his argument to a court hearing over the weekend, Justice Department attorney Eric Fleisig-Greene said Creekstone Farms is ``creating a false assurance''

Isn't anybody selling hormone-free beef doing the exact same thing?
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
mrj said:
Can beef be "hormone free"?

mrj

The USDA is allowing beef to be marketed that way...... Maybe that was what your lil buddy SH was talking about on his "deception" rants.

Notice the hypocracy that is costing US producers lost sales - the very same hypocracy that you and NCBA are backing?
 

Mike

Well-known member
mrj said:
Can beef be "hormone free"?

mrj

There are many, many beef sales being touted as "Hormone Free".

Example:

Great tasting antibiotic and hormone free beef
Richardson Farms - (Rockdale, Texas)

Richardson Farms has steak, roasts, ribs and hamburger meat that is antibiotic and hormone free. Our beef is pasture raised and grain supplemented ( grains produced on our farm) with the higest regard for the welfare of the animal. All beef is USDA inspected and vacuum packaged. Our cuts are generous in proportion and can be purchased by the whole (live wt), 1/2 (live wt), by the cut, or to your custom specification.

Start Date: May 22, 2007
End Date: May 29, 2007


Organized by: Richardson Farms
Web site: Richardsonfarms.com

Address: 2850 C.R. 412
Rockdale, TX 76567

Phone: 5124462306
 

RobertMac

Well-known member
Mike, on their web site, they say "growth hormone free" per USDA regulations...USDA considers what is said on a web site the same as a label claim. Hormone free is not allowed...at least that is what they told me.
 

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