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Anonymous
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October 21, 2011 Phone: 406-252-2516; [email protected]
Renewed Reports of Tainted Mexican Meat Highlight Need for USDA to Strengthen U.S. Country of Origin Labeling Rules for Consumers
Billings, Mont. – Just months after the Miami Herald's June 13, 2011 headline, "Much of Mexican meat tainted with steroids," which preceded an article that stated, "Much of Mexico's beef is so tainted with the steroid clenbuterol that it sickens hundreds of people each year," today's news reports indicate Mexico's tainted beef problem persists.
Meatingplace reported today that more than 100 Mexican athletes tested positive for clenbuteral after eating contaminated meat while "Mexican authorities have acknowledged issues in feeding banned steroids to livestock."
As reported by Drovers CattleNetwork in July, the United States prohibited clenbuteral for extra-label uses in all food producing animals under the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification of 1994.
"Mexican beef is being imported into the United States in record volumes, with 2011 imports through August already exceeding levels for all of 2010," said Mike Schultz, R-CALF USA COOL (Country of Origin Labeling) Committee Chair who added, "We've already imported nearly 90 million pounds of Mexican beef this year and if the number of Mexican live cattle imports keep pace with last year, we're likely to import another 1.2 million head of live Mexican cattle."
Schultz said these Mexican imports enter our U.S. food supply and the only way a consumer can choose to avoid products from countries with ongoing food safety problems like Mexico is by looking for the new country-of-origin label (COOL) that is required on ground beef and whole muscle cuts of beef sold at retail in the United States.
But Schultz said there's a problem with those new COOL labels.
Schultz said foreign countries like Mexico and multinational meatpacker associations like the American Meat Institute (AMI) and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) pressured the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to include a huge loophole in the COOL rule to undermine Congress' intent to reserve the USA label for meat exclusively born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States.
"USDA caved under the industry pressure and now allows USA meat products that are exclusively of U.S. origin to bear the label "Product of U.S. and Mexico," or "Product of U.S., Mexico, and Canada," Schultz said adding, "USDA kowtowed to foreign countries and to the multinational meatpackers who don't want U.S. consumers to be able to differentiate U.S.-produced meat from foreign meat.
The USDA states, "Clenbuterol residues can affect lung and heart function in persons who have eaten liver or meat of animals given the drug."
"American cattlemen and American consumers should be outraged that USDA has purposely written rules to make it extremely difficult for consumers to identify meat exclusively produced in the U.S. so they can avoid purchasing meat for their families that originates in countries with ongoing food safety issues," Schultz added.
Schultz said R-CALF USA has made repeated requests to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack urging him to strengthen the U.S. COOL regulations.
"Our requests to USDA continue to fall on deaf ears, meanwhile demand for our U.S.-produced meat is being seriously harmed by imports of questionable safety," Schultz concluded.
Industry News - AM
Mexican athletes test positive for clenbuterol, tainted meat to blame
By Andre Sulluchuco on 10/21/2011
More than 100 participating players in the "Under-17 World Cup" in Mexico tested positive for clenbuterol after eating contaminated meat, FIFA said on Monday.
Tests conducted in Germany found the agent in 109 of 208 urine samples, accounting for players from 19 of the 24 teams, the Associated Press reported.
Jiri Dvorak, FIFA medical officer, labeled the results as "highly surprising" but insisted that teenage soccer players were not cheating.
"It is not a problem of doping, but a problem of public health," Dvorak told reporters.
FIFA and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have declined to prosecute anyone because evidence has pointed to contamination.
Mexican authorities have acknowledged issues in feeding banned steroids to livestock.
"Now it's known it's an issue, warnings are going to be sent," Olivier Niggli, the anti-doping watchdog's legal director, said in a conference call.
Mexico is now hosting the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, and athletes have been advised to eat in designated cafeterias.
Mexico's players tested "clean" because they switched to a fish and vegetables diet before the competition, Dvorak said.
The team management took those precautions when five members of Mexico's senior squad were suspended for testing positive for clenbuterol at a training camp for the Gold Cup.
