Test ALL for Japan????

[greg]

"I Think Econ101 Has Driven You To The Brink Of Insanity".....Been there!!

 

[Tam]

Jason: "Here is where your pick and choose mentality fails for all to see. If packers are corrupt as you paint them, how can they be trusted with an issue like BSE?"

Or to properly ID meat without an enforceable traceback system on the cattle the beef came from???

Same damn hypocrisy!
~SH~

OK, NO "Cheerleaders" or "Tag Teams" allowed! :wink:

For informational uses only: Creekstone's plan was to use an in house screening process that utilized fully trained and USDA approved technicians and would be under the supervision of "Paid" USDA employees. All of Creekstone's cattle are "Source Verified" through "AngusSource", among other programs.

Creekstone also wanted to be able to ship cattle in from Canada for the BSE tested regimen.

Earlier in the week Creekstone officials confirmed to the press they have been training their staff on the proper sampling of cattle brain and stem tissue in anticipation of being allowed to conduct in-plant BSE testing. Creekstone also confirmed they recently sent a contingent to France to learn how they conduct testing for BSE and to also gain insight into the testing procedures already approved for use in that country. Creekstone plans on utilizing the same rapid-result BSE test that the French and Japanese use to test 100% of their animals. BioRad, a Hercules, California-based company, manufactures the test.

I just read this on the Creekstone website and I was just wondering where did you hear or read that the Creekstone testing would be done under the supervision of the USDA when in this quote they said Creekstone officials trained their staff to do in plant testing.

 

[Mike]

On the proposal to the USDA. Creekstone also petitioned the USDA to qualify Kansas State Univ. as a test training facility and a confirmatory test station.

The Japs must have asked for some sort of APHIS oversight.

Little did they know, that that would be the fox watching the henhouse.

 

[Jason]

Proposing that USDA trains technicians is far different than the USDA overseeing testing.

 

[Mike]

Proposing that USDA trains technicians is far different than the USDA overseeing testing.

Oh really? My Jason you are a sharp one aren't you?

Do you think that Creekstone thought they could have gotten by without USDA oversight?

Hell, they couldn't even get a test kit! You're a regular genius tonight aren't you?

Drinking problem, huh? I understand..............

 

[Jason]

Your the one that tried to say Creekstone was wanting USDA oversight... looks like you were wrong again.

 

[Mike]

Your the one that tried to say Creekstone was wanting USDA oversight... looks like you were wrong again.

Poor Jason. You do have those comprehension problems.

Care to show me where I said they "Wanted" oversight?

"Tried to say"? Now you're stooping to saying someone is "wrong" for what they "tried to say"? Get back in bed Jason. It's too early for you.

 

[Anonymous]

Mike: "For informational uses only: Creekstone's plan was to use an in house screening process that utilized fully trained and USDA approved technicians and would be under the supervision of "Paid" USDA employees. All of Creekstone's cattle are "Source Verified" through "AngusSource", among other programs"

Creekstone: "Earlier in the week Creekstone officials confirmed to the press they have been training their staff on the proper sampling of cattle brain and stem tissue in anticipation of being allowed to conduct in-plant BSE testing. Creekstone also confirmed they recently sent a contingent to France to learn how they conduct testing for BSE and to also gain insight into the testing procedures already approved for use in that country. Creekstone plans on utilizing the same rapid-result BSE test that the French and Japanese use to test 100% of their animals. BioRad, a Hercules, California-based company, manufactures the test."

Mike, where did you get your information from and when were each of these statements made?

I see no mention of USDA oversight.


~SH~

 

[rkaiser]

The one and only thing that will stop this thread is a decision by Cargill and Tyson to BSE test for export marketing purposes.

That day WILL come.

And when it does, SH and Jason will also agree that it is time.

 

[Mike]

Mike: "For informational uses only: Creekstone's plan was to use an in house screening process that utilized fully trained and USDA approved technicians and would be under the supervision of "Paid" USDA employees. All of Creekstone's cattle are "Source Verified" through "AngusSource", among other programs"

Creekstone: "Earlier in the week Creekstone officials confirmed to the press they have been training their staff on the proper sampling of cattle brain and stem tissue in anticipation of being allowed to conduct in-plant BSE testing. Creekstone also confirmed they recently sent a contingent to France to learn how they conduct testing for BSE and to also gain insight into the testing procedures already approved for use in that country. Creekstone plans on utilizing the same rapid-result BSE test that the French and Japanese use to test 100% of their animals. BioRad, a Hercules, California-based company, manufactures the test."

Mike, where did you get your information from and when were each of these statements made?

I see no mention of USDA oversight.


~SH~

Posted by News on 10:13:30 3/18/2004 from 134.121.87.141:

Japan says it will accept BSE-tested U.S. beef

by Daniel Yovich on 3/18/04 for Meatingplace.com

A senior Japanese government official said his country would likely revise its blanket ban on U.S. beef imports, telling those at a Tokyo news conference Thursday that Japan would likely accept meat from individual U.S. companies that test all their cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

This is the first time a senior Japanese official has said publicly the government would mull a partial-lifting of its beef ban.

The Kyodo news service said Japanese officials have learned USDA is in the midst of discussions that could lead to the licensing of privately-run laboratories to conduct BSE testing under USDA oversight. Mamoru Ishihara, vice minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said if the private laboratories are supervised and regulated by USDA, Japanese "consumer demand for the safety of foods may be satisfied."

As recently as 10 days ago, senior USDA officials maintained they were in no hurry to expedite the licensing of BSE rapid-tests. The agency has since reversed, and will use the rapid tests in its efforts to increase by ten times the number of cattle it annually tests for BSE.

USDA is also reportedly under significant political pressure to resolve a dispute with Arkansas City, Kan.-based Creekstone Farms, which announced three weeks ago its plans to contract with a private lab to test all of its cattle for BSE in an effort to again service its Japanese and South Korean customers. To date, more than a dozen senators and congressmen have said they support that initiative.


One of many SH. One of many. May I ask you also? Do YOU think that Creekstone did not want USDA oversight? Let me clue you in.........It's was the way to skirt the "Liability" issue.

 

[Anonymous]

Randy Kaiser,

Make sure you read Lee Pitts article that Hayseed posted so you can see the timeline for yourself and then tell me how R-CULT had nothing to do with closing the Canadian border.


~SH~

 

[Anonymous]

Mike,

A 2004 article?

Can't you find something more current?


~SH~

 

[Mike]

Mike,

A 2004 article?

Can't you find something more current?


~SH~

That's when Creekstone petitioned the USDA Scott! In Mar-Apr of 2004. Why would you think there is current news?

In case you don't remember, the USDA turned them down back then.

:???:

 

[Mike]

Creekstone seeks to ship brain stem samples to Japan for BSE testing

Meatingplace.com
April 14, 2004
by Daniel Yovich


As Creekstone Farms mulls its legal options in the wake of the Agriculture Department's refusal to allow the company to test all of its cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the Arkansas City, Kan.-based processor is now seeking approval to ship brain stem tissue from product harvested at Creekstone to Japan for BSE testing.

In a three page letter dated Tuesday and addressed to Undersecretaries J.B. Penn and Bill Hawks, as well as Dale Moore, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman's chief of staff, Creekstone CEO John Stewart and COO Bill Fielding said the company will challenge USDA's refusal to allow the company to test for BSE all the cattle it slaughters. Stewart and Fileding said they are "analyzing our legal options" and that the company is now losing about $200,000 per day because of the Japanese embargo on U.S. beef.

Stewart and Fielding asked USDA reconsider its decision, and, if USDA refuses to allow the company to test all of its cattle, "approve the procedure whereby Creekstone Farms is allowed to ship brain stem samples to Japan for BSE testing" in that government's laboratories.

"Please understand our situation as well as our consternation over why the USDA will not embrace our plan," Stewart and Fielding said in reference to USDA's April 8 announcement it would not approve Creekstone's original request. "Creekstone Farms plans to test more cattle than the USDA, at a lower cost. If our plan were to be implemented, we would test over 300,000 head of cattle over the course of a year, versus the USDA proposed cattle population of approximately 220,000 head."

USDA does not yet have a detailed public response to the Creekstone letter. "At this point we have received the letter and we are in the process of reviewing it," said spokesman Ed Loyd.

Creekstone asks USDA to consider other options

As other alternatives, Creekstone asked USDA to:

* "Expand the USDA's surveillance program to involve 1 million head of young animals
* Approve Kansas State University as an official USDA laboratory with direction to establish Creekstone Farms as a satellite laboratory.
* Approve the purchase of young Canadian cattle that would be BSE tested at our processing plant in Arkansas City, Kansas.
* Approve labeling domestic product BSE tested due to increased consumer concern in the United States."

Additionally, Stewart and Fielding asked USDA to provide in writing the legal basis for the agency's denial of a private industry from performing a rapid test method for BSE. The two executives noted they "will continue to track this loss on a daily basis to determine damages" should they attempt to seek a legal remedy to the impasse.

Turning up the heat

The issue has become an industry and political hot potato, and it appears that Creekstone may be gearing up for a media campaign targeting the agency. The letter addressed to Penn, Hawks and Moore advised the officials that Creekstone intends to share the letter with the media on Wednesday. It also reminded the agency that Japanese Vice Agriculture Minister Mamoru Ishihara said the "U.S. government's decision not to accept [Creekstone's] offer is, frankly speaking, regrettable."

The USDA rejection "has blown hopes for an early resumption of beef imports, unless Japan drops its demand for all-cattle checks," said another senior Japanese agriculture ministry official.

Closer to home, Creekstone has won some support among a group of U.S. lawmakers and at least one former USDA official.

Last week, Duane Acker, the agency's former assistant secretary for science and education, wrote to Veneman urging that USDA swiftly approve Creekstone's request to test all of the cattle it slaughters, noting that Creekstone was seeking the approval as a customer requirement.

"Rule number one for selling a product, whether the seller be a company, an industry, or an exporting country, is to provide what the buyer wants," Acker said. "It is clear Japan and some other countries want beef product from tested animals."

Japan, the United States largest beef export market, is the only country that tests all of its cattle for BSE, and is alone among the more 50 countries that closed their borders to U.S. beef after the Dec. 23 discovery of a single case of BSE to demand that the United States test all beef for export to that country as a precondition to resume trade.

Creekstone's desire to test all of its cattle also won the support of Kansas Agriculture Secretary Adrian Polansky. The Associated Press reported Tuesday afternoon that Polansky believes Creekstone's ability to test its product is "a basic tenet of a free-market system."

 

[Mike]

Creekstone also admitted their tests would not reveal BSE prions in cattle under 24 months of age. They were selling an "ILLUSION OF SAFETY".


~SH~

Scott, Could you please provide a quote from Creekstone where they actually said this? For the life of me I can't seem to find it. :???: :???:

 

[Mike]

Creekstone also admitted their tests would not reveal BSE prions in cattle under 24 months of age. They were selling an "ILLUSION OF SAFETY".


~SH~

Scott, Could you please provide a quote from Creekstone where they actually said this? For the life of me I can't seem to find it. :???: :???:

Brought this to the top so you would see it.

Time for bed.

 

[Mike]

Creekstone also admitted their tests would not reveal BSE prions in cattle under 24 months of age. They were selling an "ILLUSION OF SAFETY".


~SH~

Scott, Could you please provide a quote from Creekstone where they actually said this? For the life of me I can't seem to find it. :???: :???:

Brought this to the top so you would see it.

Time for bed.

Not wanting this to slide off the page. I asked pleasantly. I even said please.

 

[Tam]

Scott, Could you please provide a quote from Creekstone where they actually said this? For the life of me I can't seem to find it. :???: :???:

Brought this to the top so you would see it.

Time for bed.

Not wanting this to slide off the page. I asked pleasantly. I even said please.

Just for you Mike

Satisfying the Japanese

USDA has sole control of the testing processes in meat plants. And its
officials say they have rejected Creekstone Farms' pleas because the
company's tests don't detect mad cow disease in animals younger than 30
months. Most U.S. beef comes from 12- to 18-month-old cows.

"The tests are not designed to detect BSE in younger animals," said Andrea
McNally, a spokeswoman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service. "So for Creekstone Farms to use the test to say its product is 100
percent BSE-free would be giving consumers a false sense of food safety, a
sense the test is not designed to give."

Creekstone's Pentz said the company knows that. But the issue, he said,
isn't whether the tests are effective, it's whether the federal government
should -- or can -- prevent a private business from meeting the legal
expectations of its customers. In this instance, the customers want the
testing.

Would you like to let it drop off now Mike. :wink:

 

[Mike]

Looks like the USDA is the one saying it Tam. My whole point, words are skewed to fit the agenda Tam.....................

 

[Anonymous]

The Japanese Challenge
"Testing all cattle (for BSE) was and still is the major cause of delays in trade negotiations with the U.S.," says Yoshiro Ozawa of Japan, an honorary advisor to the World Organization for Animal Health. He spoke last week at the International Livestock Congress meeting on "The Global Prevention and Management of Foreign Animal Disease."

When BSE first surfaced internationally, Ozawa says the Japanese government assured its citizens the disease didn't exist in Japan. When it was discovered there, they attempted to allay consumer concerns by adopting a policy of testing all harvested beef animals for BSE. In essence, they told consumers that beef tested for BSE was safe to eat, while beef not tested for BSE was suspect.

"Risk communication on BSE in Japan was misleading, the mass media tend to exaggerate BSE risks, and consumers tend to demand zero risk," says Ozawa.

That is the challenge of assuaging the suspicions Japanese consumers now have about U.S. beef or beef from any other country that is not tested for BSE. That's the challenge of getting a second chance when the ball is dropped as spectacularly as it was with the bone-in veal shipped to that country in January that led to the renewed ban on U.S. beef.