Testing

[Bruce14]

2004-02-20 22:09:35 GMT (Reuters)

WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Meatpacker Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, with an eye on the export market, will test all of its slaughter cattle for mad cow disease, its president said on Friday at a U.S. Agriculture Department forum.

Dozens of nations banned imports of U.S. beef following the Dec. 23 announcement of the first U.S. case of mad cow disease. While testing of all slaughter cattle has been suggested as a way to assure food safety, U.S. officials say the step is not needed because the disease is found in older animals.

"We will be BSE-testing every animal that comes through our facility," said Creekstone Farms president John Stewart, using the abbreviation for the disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

Speaking during USDA's annual outlook forum, Stewart appealed to the USDA for speedy approval of the BSE testing method that would be used at Creekstone Farms' beef plant in Arkansas City, Kansas.

The plant has a capacity of 12,000 head per week, he said.

Stewart said his company would bear the cost of the tests because a large portion of its production would be exported and because its beef is aimed at higher-end markets. Large-volume packers have thinner margins.

USDA analyst Joel Greene said his "gut feeling" was that Mexico and Canada would resume U.S. beef imports during the second half of the year.

[kato]

We better not resume imports unless they do.

I guess it was only a matter of time before someone stepped up and decided to test. I would think the Americans will ramp up their pressure to change the rules before a bunch of small independants start talking like this. To say nothing about a bunch of Canadians.

We wouldn't want to put the big boys at a disadvantage would we? Think of their poor stock values? Think of their poor profit margins? Poor babies. Whatever would they do?

[cowman]

Whatever happened to the Irish backed plant that was being built in Saskatchewan? Weren't they going to test everything?
I like the idea of the American plant trying to put the heat on the USDA to get the rapid test up and running. When the day comes that there is a blood test approved, BSE won't be a concern. You get them tested before they go to town...end of story. I would think the USDA and CFIA would be doing all they could to get these blood tests approved?
There was some guy who is involved in one of these companies who phoned the Rutherford show and claimed the BSE prion had been detected in cattle as young as 8 months(not in the brain but in the blood). He claimed the disease could be picked up at a very young age and it took some time for the prions to migrate, in sufficient numbers, to the brain/spinal cord! Anyone heard anything about that?

[rsomer]

This from CBC News this morning. http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/02/21/bse_japan040221

Japan suspects 10th case of mad cow
Last Updated Sat, 21 Feb 2004 18:06:06
TOKYO - Preliminary tests suggest another case of mad cow disease has turned up in Japan, local media reported Saturday.


INDEPTH: Mad Cow Disease

The discovery was made at a slaughterhouse just west of Tokyo on Friday, according to the Kyodo News website.
About 60 other cows from the same dairy farm have been quarantined as a precaution, Health Ministry officials said.

More tests will be conducted to confirm that the Holstein cow had bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the brain-wasting disease. Results were expected as early as Sunday.

The animal, born in the Kanagawa prefecture, was almost eight years old.

Japan's last confirmed case of BSE was in November – the ninth in the country. Only two of those animals had noticeable symptoms, such as difficulty walking, officials said.

The latest suspected case of mad cow was detected because of a government program to check all cows destined for human consumption, health authorities emphasized.