OT: Bushco strikes again

U.S. government fights to keep meatpackers from testing all
slaughtered cattle for mad cow

The Associated Press
Tuesday, May 29, 2007

WASHINGTON: The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep
meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease.

The Agriculture Department tests fewer than 1 percent of slaughtered
cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted
beef. A beef producer in the western state of Kansas, Creekstone Farms
Premium Beef, wants to test all of its cows.

Larger meat companies feared that move because, if Creekstone should
test its meat and advertised it as safe, they might have to perform
the expensive tests on their larger herds as well.

The Agriculture Department regulates the test and argued that
widespread testing could lead to a false positive that would harm the
meat industry.

A federal judge ruled in March that such tests must be
allowed. U.S. District Judge James Robertson noted that Creekstone
sought to use the same test the government relies on and said the
government didn't have the authority to restrict it. - A federal judge
ruled in March that such tests must be allowed. The ruling was
scheduled to take effect June 1, but the Agriculture Department said
Tuesday it would appeal, effectively delaying the testing until the
court challenge has played out.

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is linked to
more than 150 human deaths worldwide, mostly in Britain.

Three cases of mad cow disease have been found in the United
States. The first, in December 2003 in Washington state, was in a cow
that had been imported from Canada. The second, in 2005, was in a cow
born in Texas. The third was confirmed last year in an Alabama cow.
.

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