Mad Cow Facts

By Beth Gorham on November 23, 2004
From Canadian Press

Excerpt - for complete article please visit the Canadian Press

WASHINGTON (CP) - Fears of a new mad cow case in the United States were laid to rest Tuesday after American officials said a suspect cow tested negative for the disease.

In a brief statement released late in the day, the U.S. Agriculture Department said “an internationally recognized gold standard test” ruled out BSE.

The news will be a relief to Canadian ranchers worried that another diseased cow could hinder efforts to drop the existing U.S. ban on live cattle, although officials on both sides of the border predicted it wouldn’t hurt the process.

American officials announced last week that initial screening on one animal proved inconclusive. The results were sent to a national laboratory in Ames, Iowa, for further tests.

It was the third inconclusive result since new BSE measures were implemented across the country in June. The other two also proved negative in the end.

“Screening tests are designed to be extremely sensitive and false positives are not unexpected,” the department said.

Meanwhile, American officials started the final review Monday of draft rules that would end the cattle ban and allow more Canadian beef products to flow south.

The process could take five months or more but some U.S. industry experts said President George W. Bush may give Canadians a better idea of the timeline when he visits Ottawa next week.

Bush told Prime Minister Paul Martin last week that he’d push to end the ban that has cost Canadian producers some $4 billion Cdn over the last 18 months.

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by Wendy Sweeter on November 23, 2004
for Lee Agri-Media

Excerpt - for complete article please visit The Prairie Star.com

During a tele-news conference today, Andrea Morgan from the USDA announced “An inconclusive BSE test result was received on a rapid screening test used as part of our enhanced BSE surveillance program.”

“The inconclusive result does not mean we have found another case of BSE in this country. Inconclusive results are a normal component of screening tests, which are designed to be extremely sensitive so that they will detect any samples that could possibly be positive.”

This is the third inconclusive result this year, requiring confirmation testing by USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories. Little information is offered abut the location of the animal, but the USDA is assured that it did not enter the food or feed chain.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) also known as “Mad Cow Disease” has been in the public eye since the Dec. 23, 2003 USDA announcement that a BSE-diseased cow had been found in Washington state. The announcement interrupted the normal flow of beef across borders of the United States, disrupted markets, and caused a beef industry brawl over testing and reporting procedures.

For complete article visit The Prairie Star.

Non-profit group addresses misleading marketing claims about food safety and BSE.

Churchville, VA — November 22, 2004 — The Department of Agriculture has announced an inconclusive test result for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), more commonly known as “mad cow disease.” In the past such inconclusive results have turned out to be negative on further analysis, however, the appearance of a second case of BSE in the United States would not be cause for concern about the safety of American beef. The non-profit Center for Global Food Issues applauds the continued open and transparent manner in which regulators and the American beef producers and processors are scientifically and responsibly addressing the BSE issue.

The Associated Press reported this week that in light of Mad Cow concerns, organic and natural product company “marketing claims confuse beef consumers.” Recent research reveals that some advocacy and marketing interests are working in concert, seeking to use public announcements regarding mad cow disease for profit and promotion. Some organic food companies, advocacy organizations, and other special interest groups are using the news media and the Internet to promote misleading marketing claims through Web sites, press releases, and paid advertising. The Center for Global Food Issues (CGFI) operates http://www.mad-cow-facts.com to help concerned consumers find independent, balanced and credible information and links related to mad cow disease.

“We want consumers to have the facts, not the fears that many special interest groups and those in the organic and natural products industry are advancing,” said Alex Avery, Director of Research at CGFI. “Since the discovery of mad cow disease in Washington State we’ve seen numerous press releases, new Web sites and a wide-range of online advertising tactics seeking to exploit public and media perceptions of this issue.”

CGFI notes that the top search results for “mad cow” in popular search engines are now dominated by advocacy and marketing groups promoting organic agriculture. Companies like Stonyfield Organic Yogurt as well as anti-meat activists such as PETA have purchased online advertising in the form of sponsored links found on news sites reporting on mad cow disease such as About.com and CNN.com. News articles and broadcasts have repeatedly reported misleading claims found on these sites suggesting that organic beef is safe from BSE-related risks. In fact, organic beef producers were among the first to report cases of BSE in Europe.

“CGFI believes that these activities irresponsibly exploit mad cow-related concerns of American consumers with false and misleading fears about conventional agriculture and traditional American beef production practices,” noted Avery. “Certain advocacy groups and unscrupulous marketing interests are spreading false fears for profit and to promote their special interest agendas.”

CGFI agrees with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Food and Drug Administration and world-leading academic experts that these types of direct and implied food safety claims are not based in medical or scientific fact, risk undermining public confidence in safe food and cause harm to American farmers and ranchers. The Web site http://www.Mad-Cow-Facts.com seeks to help consumers find credible information and commentary about mad cow disease.

The Center for Global Food Issues is a project of the Hudson Institute, a tax-exempt non-profit public policy organization, providing factual, science-based information on important food and farming issues.

Contact:
Alex Avery
Research Director
Center for Global Food Issues
(540) 337-6354

November 19, 2004 from news.davis.edu 

Since the first case of mad cow disease (BSE or bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in the United States was discovered in late December 2003, UC Davis faculty members have been busy doing research and providing educational programs for a wide variety of consumer, producer and veterinary groups. A highly sensitive livestock feed test aimed at preventing BSE has been developed by UC Davis researchers and is nearing commercialization. And in late March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory at UC Davis as one of seven laboratories throughout the country approved to conduct rapid screening tests as part of the nationwide surveillance for BSE. This year, the lab has performed approximately 15,000 screening tests for BSE. If you need more help, contact Pat Bailey, News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu.

CONSUMER RISKS AND INDUSTRY CHANGES — Jerry Gillespie, director of the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security at UC Davis, is a veterinary pathologist with special expertise in the area of food animals and food safety. He is confident that the risk posed by mad cow disease to U.S. consumers is minimal but supports improved management systems for the beef production and processing industries. Gillespie has advocated for trace-back systems for tracking individual cattle and diagnostic testing for all animals at the point of slaughter. He was raised on a beef cattle ranch and still manages the family ranches. Before coming to UC Davis, he served as first executive director of the Joint Institute for Food Safety Research, coordinated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Contact: Jerry Gillespie, Western Institute for Food Safety and Security, (530) 757-5757, jrgillespie@wifss.ucdavis.edu.

BEEF INDUSTRY ISSUES — Jim Oltjen, a UC Davis Cooperative Extension animal scientist, specializes in management issues affecting the beef industry. He conducts educational programs for beef producers that focus on improving herd quality and using computer software to make management decisions. He can talk about how the discovery of mad cow disease in the United States affected cattle ranchers and the management decisions producers have faced during the past year. Contact: Jim Oltjen, UC Davis Animal Science, (530) 752-5650, jwoltjen@ucdavis.edu.

BEEF CATTLE — John Maas, a UC Davis Cooperative Extension veterinarian, is a national expert on raising animals for food, particularly for beef. He also has been an active cattle rancher for 35 years. Maas has been to Europe several times on a USDA mission to review mad cow disease/BSE diagnosis, testing and control systems. He is a frequent speaker to consumer, beef producer and veterinary groups and to the media. Maas can discuss U.S. cattle-tracking methods and disease-surveillance programs from regulatory, industry and university perspectives. Contact: John Maas, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, (530) 752-3990, jmaas@ucdavis.edu.

DAIRY CATTLE — James Cullor is a UC Davis veterinary professor and director of the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching and Research Center in Tulare, Calif. (Tulare County is the No. 1 dairy-producing county in the United States.) He is an authority on dairy cattle and dairy farming. Cullor can discuss the biology of mad cow disease/BSE, how it spreads and is controlled, the adequacy of U.S. surveillance programs and the prevention of BSE in large dairy herds. He can also discuss the proportion of dairy cattle in the U.S. beef supply. This year, his research lab developed a quick test that uses DNA forensic techniques to detect the presence in livestock feed of prohibited materials from cows, sheep, goats and deer. The University of California has applied for a patent on the process, and the test should be in commercial use sometime next year. Contact: James Cullor, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, in Tulare at (559) 688-1731 (extension 202), cell (559) 936-0510, jscullor@ucdavis.edu.

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From USAgNet on November 19, 2004

The American Meat Institute says the nation’s meat supply is among the safest in the world, even though another case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease may turn up.

USDA announced an “inconclusive” test for BSE on Thursday, but the agency did not disclose the location or age of the cow, but said it had not entered the food or feed chain. The announcement halted cash cattle bidding for fed cattle in the Plains.

Futures prices dropped the daily limit shortly after the market opened, but recovered in later trading in the morning.

The American Meat Institute responded to the incident, reminding consumers that “beef is safe and consumers needn’t worry about news of a new ‘inconclusive’ test result.”

“Regardless of the outcome of this test result, U.S. beef is safe,” said AMI President J. Patrick Boyle

Original article…