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Tyson/USDA Screws Up?

Mike

Well-known member
Consumers' Foundation pushes for U.S. beef ban


Group calls for better detection system for mad cow disease

2006-04-30 / STAFF REPORTER and agencies / By Jenny W. Hsu
The Consumers' Foundation called for an immediate ban and recall of American beef products yesterday after rib bone fragments were discovered in three meat shipments from a U.S. supplier, Tyson Fresh Meat, on Thursday.

U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman Ed Lloyd vouched for the safety of U.S. meat Friday by saying the recently contaminated shipment to Taiwan was an isolated incident and did not indicate that American beef products are unsafe.

The Foundation blasted the Department of Health, however, saying it was putting people in danger by only removing the Nebraska-based meat supplier from the approved list and not totally prohibiting the importation of U.S. beef.

It pointed out that three months ago, Japan immediately reinstated the ban on U.S. meat products when spinal cord materials were found in a meat shipment at Narita Airport on January 20. Taiwan should follow the example of Japan in order to protect consumers' health, the Foundation said.

The Foundation also raised doubts on the safety of the beef by noting that the U.S. tests less than one percent of its cattle, an extremely low figure compared to Japan, another BSE-affected country, which inspects 100 percent of its herds.

Call for recall

The DOH should immediately recall all U.S. beef currently on the market and ban it from entering Taiwan until the U.S. government has established a better detection system for bovine encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, the Foundation said.

"Since 2006, the U.S. has reported three cases of mad cow disease while Japan has reported 25 cases," it said, adding the number does not mean the problem is more severe in Japan but is a reflection that Japan has a more comprehensive and rigorous detection mechanism to discover more cases than the U.S.

Furthermore, to evaluate the spread of BSE in the U.S., the consumers' group urged Taiwan to find out the locations and the names of the meat suppliers that exported contaminated meat to Hong Kong and Japan.

Taiwan banned beef imports from the U.S. in December 2003 after a single case of BSE was discovered in Washington State.

In April 2005, the ban was lifted under the condition that only meat from animals under 30 months of age be allowed to enter Taiwan. The ban was reinstated approximately two months later when a second case of BSE was discovered.

On January 25, 2006, five days after a contaminated shipment was discovered in Japan, DOH once again lifted the ban despite objections from the Legislative Yuan.
 

don

Well-known member
mike: "Since 2006, the U.S. has reported three cases of mad cow disease while Japan has reported 25 cases," it said, adding the number does not mean the problem is more severe in Japan but is a reflection that Japan has a more comprehensive and rigorous detection mechanism to discover more cases than the U.S.

what we've been saying all along but usda and the packers think they'll 'manage' this and it will go away. same mistake as japan made to start with and so did the europeans and britain. we'll all pay.
 

mrj

Well-known member
don said:
mike: "Since 2006, the U.S. has reported three cases of mad cow disease while Japan has reported 25 cases," it said, adding the number does not mean the problem is more severe in Japan but is a reflection that Japan has a more comprehensive and rigorous detection mechanism to discover more cases than the U.S.

what we've been saying all along but usda and the packers think they'll 'manage' this and it will go away. same mistake as japan made to start with and so did the europeans and britain. we'll all pay.


don, how is the Japanese system of dealing with BSE "more comprehensive and rigorous" in PREVENTING, not simply DETECTING BSE? You seem to be ignoring the fact that the USA and Canada began actual work to PREVENT the problem many long years ago. Surely that has much to do with the FACT that our incidence of the disease is far less than that of other nations not implementing those measures that early. And don't throw up the usual smoke screen that we "don't test every animal". That is bogus! Our testing system was designed specifically to FIND however much we may have, right down to one animal out of millions if there were so few, or the higher numbers if there were more.

MRJ
 

agman

Well-known member
don said:
mike: "Since 2006, the U.S. has reported three cases of mad cow disease while Japan has reported 25 cases," it said, adding the number does not mean the problem is more severe in Japan but is a reflection that Japan has a more comprehensive and rigorous detection mechanism to discover more cases than the U.S.

what we've been saying all along but usda and the packers think they'll 'manage' this and it will go away. same mistake as japan made to start with and so did the europeans and britain. we'll all pay.

Don, Japan kills about 5,500 head of cattle per day. We kill approximately 125,000 per day. They have 25 cases and we have three. What that tells me is they simply have a much higher incidence of BSE independent of any testing.

I am quite certain if they conducted the same tests that are being done in the U.S, because of the statistical significance of the method used in the U.S, they would still come up with 25 cases to-date using only our method.

To compare the disaster they have created for themselves because they failed to implement safeguards when the U.S or Canada implemented procedures years ago is simply comparing prunes to apples.
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
"U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman Ed Lloyd vouched for the safety of U.S. meat Friday by saying the recently contaminated shipment to Taiwan was an isolated incident and did not indicate that American beef products are unsafe"

Isn't this the third "isolated incident"? :roll:

And to think that this all could and can be avoided. :mad: "Not based on sound science" my arse!
 

Tam

Well-known member
Sandhusker said:
"U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman Ed Lloyd vouched for the safety of U.S. meat Friday by saying the recently contaminated shipment to Taiwan was an isolated incident and did not indicate that American beef products are unsafe"

Isn't this the third "isolated incident"? :roll:

And to think that this all could and can be avoided. :mad: "Not based on sound science" my arse!

How could it have been avoided Sandhusker? By 100% testing? :roll:

DO you really think they would not have shut your exports down again because you were testing when the one rule that according to most EXPERTS is the most important rule to protect human health was broken tested or not?
 

Mike

Well-known member
How could it have been avoided Sandhusker?

All that had to be done (in the first case) was for the USDA to inform the Inspectors of the allowed materials to be shipped to Japan. Didn't you read the report?

In this case, Tyson had already warned everyone that it was impossible to remove every piece of bone from beef. I guess that clears them of any wrongdoing. :???: :???:
 

Tam

Well-known member
Mike said:
How could it have been avoided Sandhusker?

All that had to be done (in the first case) was for the USDA to inform the Inspectors of the allowed materials to be shipped to Japan. Didn't you read the report?

In this case, Tyson had already warned everyone that it was impossible to remove every piece of bone from beef. I guess that clears them of any wrongdoing. :???: :???:

Come on Mike don't you think after the media attention BONELESS meat got over our exports to the US and the media attention that focused on the Japanese re-banning US beef because of BONE IN A SHIPMENT that the US beef industry would know what they can and can't ship out of the country. If they are in the export business they should KNOW what is legal to ship and not have to have a picture drawn out for them.
Funny how most everyone knows what BONELESS means but it has to be explained to those that process and inspect meat for a living? :roll:
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
According to my ol vet- who I trust a whole hell of a lot more than any group of bureaucratic vets and scientists-- Its impossible to remove all bone, all SRM material, and all BSE prions under the methods currently being used.......

That tells me you either test or play Russian roulette with anything over twenty months of age........And if it comes from Canada it has about a 10-1 more possibility of being diseased because of the POST feedbans and cluster area cattle............

But since Johanns says the US is BSE free we will discontinue testing :???:
 

Mike

Well-known member
Tam said:
Mike said:
How could it have been avoided Sandhusker?

All that had to be done (in the first case) was for the USDA to inform the Inspectors of the allowed materials to be shipped to Japan. Didn't you read the report?

In this case, Tyson had already warned everyone that it was impossible to remove every piece of bone from beef. I guess that clears them of any wrongdoing. :???: :???:

Come on Mike don't you think after the media attention BONELESS meat got over our exports to the US and the media attention that focused on the Japanese re-banning US beef because of BONE IN A SHIPMENT that the US beef industry would know what they can and can't ship out of the country. If they are in the export business they should KNOW what is legal to ship and not have to have a picture drawn out for them.
Funny how most everyone knows what BONELESS means but it has to be explained to those that process and inspect meat for a living? :roll:

Yea Tam, and we trust these clowns to remove SRM's? Read flounders' paper where they have had thousands of violations of improper SRM removal. And you still don't want to test? When's the wedding?
 

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