Government in the way of BSE tests
Iowa Farmer Today
Lee Newspapers
April 13, 2006
You'd think that if a company wanted to provide more than the government minimum testing to assure consumers that its beef was safe, it would have the right.
You'd be wrong.
Creekstone Farms Premium Beef has lobbied the government for years for permission to do its own testing for mad cow disease. The government repeatedly said no.
Finally, last month, Creekstone went to court. Consumers everywhere ought to thank the company for its plucky challenge to the status quo.
If Creekstone wins, beef eaters will have the freedom to choose steak from cattle guaranteed to have been tested for bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
And the lawsuit also may have the positive effect of putting a little more urgency into the effort to assure consumers of the safety of American beef.
On several fronts that effort has been disappointing. The United States, for example, lags behind Europe, Canada and other countries in its ability to track livestock.
That ability is essential to react to safety concerns such as the discovery of mad cow disease last month in a cow in Alabama. Ag officials still haven't been able to trace the origins of the infected cow. The cow was not registered in a voluntary identification program that hopes to track livestock to their birthplaces within 48 hours.
As of March 1, cattle producers in Nebraska had registered only 18 percent of locations where cattle are kept as part of the national animal identification program. Unless the state registers 25 percent of locations by the end of the month, it risks losing funds for the program.
The most damaging blow to consumer confidence came shortly after Japan lifted its ban on American beef. In a matter of weeks, a supplier mistakenly shipped veal to Japan that contained banned spinal columns. Japan quickly reinstated the ban.
The government and the beef industry continue to be too secretive about important food safety programs. It took a request under the Freedom of Information Act, for example, to force the government to reveal violations under new rules designed to prevent the spread of mad cow disease.
But the federal government's most exasperating food safety policy is its refusal to allow more stringent testing for mad cow disease on a voluntary basis, like that wanted by Creekstone.
To be sure, the risk of contracting BSE from American beef is incalculably low. And the risk is plummeting around the world. Last year, only 474 cattle died of BSE around the world, the United Nations said. The number of deaths has been cut in half in each of the past three years.
But jittery consumers ought to have the freedom to choose beef from an animal they know has been tested. The government ought to get out of the way.
iowafarmer.com
Iowa Farmer Today
Lee Newspapers
April 13, 2006
You'd think that if a company wanted to provide more than the government minimum testing to assure consumers that its beef was safe, it would have the right.
You'd be wrong.
Creekstone Farms Premium Beef has lobbied the government for years for permission to do its own testing for mad cow disease. The government repeatedly said no.
Finally, last month, Creekstone went to court. Consumers everywhere ought to thank the company for its plucky challenge to the status quo.
If Creekstone wins, beef eaters will have the freedom to choose steak from cattle guaranteed to have been tested for bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
And the lawsuit also may have the positive effect of putting a little more urgency into the effort to assure consumers of the safety of American beef.
On several fronts that effort has been disappointing. The United States, for example, lags behind Europe, Canada and other countries in its ability to track livestock.
That ability is essential to react to safety concerns such as the discovery of mad cow disease last month in a cow in Alabama. Ag officials still haven't been able to trace the origins of the infected cow. The cow was not registered in a voluntary identification program that hopes to track livestock to their birthplaces within 48 hours.
As of March 1, cattle producers in Nebraska had registered only 18 percent of locations where cattle are kept as part of the national animal identification program. Unless the state registers 25 percent of locations by the end of the month, it risks losing funds for the program.
The most damaging blow to consumer confidence came shortly after Japan lifted its ban on American beef. In a matter of weeks, a supplier mistakenly shipped veal to Japan that contained banned spinal columns. Japan quickly reinstated the ban.
The government and the beef industry continue to be too secretive about important food safety programs. It took a request under the Freedom of Information Act, for example, to force the government to reveal violations under new rules designed to prevent the spread of mad cow disease.
But the federal government's most exasperating food safety policy is its refusal to allow more stringent testing for mad cow disease on a voluntary basis, like that wanted by Creekstone.
To be sure, the risk of contracting BSE from American beef is incalculably low. And the risk is plummeting around the world. Last year, only 474 cattle died of BSE around the world, the United Nations said. The number of deaths has been cut in half in each of the past three years.
But jittery consumers ought to have the freedom to choose beef from an animal they know has been tested. The government ought to get out of the way.
iowafarmer.com
