Woe Canada: Tired tune about BSE has one sweet note
by Dan Murphy on 1/14/05 for Meatingplace.com
With all the commotion swirling around the confirmation of a pair of Canadian BSE cases this new year, I am experiencing an overwhelming emotion.
Joy.
Not because these isolated BSE cases continue to surface. Whether the animals are Canadian-born or Canadian-discovered, the resulting media coverage bodes ill for ongoing efforts on the part of the United States to negotiate a resumption of beef trade with our $1.6 billion dollar trading partners in Japan, a market that's been closed for more than a year.
Not because of the impact on the beef industry. Short-term, any case of BSE delivers negative news to the nation's beef packers, as witnessed by the recent layoffs at Tyson Foods, National Beef Packing Co. and Swift & Co.
And certainly not as a result of the "visionary" handling of the BSE-associated border closures by our esteemed Agriculture Department. What was sorely needed throughout this entire unfolding series of events was enlightened, forceful leadership focused on setting and staying a scientifically guided course on policymaking. On that score, unfortunately, the agency's performance has been less than stellar.
No, I'm happy about this latest chapter in the ongoing crisis of BSE for one reason only: the activist response — or lack of one, to be precise.
Think back a year or so to that memorable Christmas week in 2003. The confirmation of a single BSE-positive cow in Washington state and the subsequent recall of beef products from a single plant in Moses Lake, Wash., fueled a frenzy of condemnation, outrage and predictions of meat industry Armageddon from a host of activists.
It made for a glittery, gift-wrapped holiday for the groups who profit from a career of attacking the integrity and safety of the nation's meat supply.
Cable news spots with activist "experts" gloating about how they had predicted this (alleged) epidemic. Talk show appearances focused on excoriating greedy, death-dealing meatpackers and corrupt, complicit inspection officials. Reams of doom-and-gloom press releases trying to convince Americans their lives were on the line if they so much as fingered a package of hamburger at the supermarket.
For the self-styled experts and self-appointed watchdogs who live to create controversies over meat safety, it was like Santa himself slid down the chimney with a whole sack full of pain and suffering that had the industry's name on it.
Lost in the shouting were several sober predictions from both the private and public sectors that a "handful" of new cases were likely to be found in the months ahead, especially as both Canada and the United States ramped up their BSE surveillance numbers.
That is exactly what has happened, but for all the overheated rhetoric flying around a year ago, today there's relatively little noise coming from the various offices of Activists Inc.
The Center for Media and Democracy, home base for anti-business crusader John "Mad Cow USA" Stauber, didn't even run the "new cases of BSE!" among its top three news items, with mad cow running a distant fourth to stories about Enron's Kenneth Lay (now there's a fresh piece of news), rocket fuel in the drinking water and some feeble offensive against the new White House communications director.
The Consumers Union, the most relentless, vocal campaigners for universal, mandatory testing of all cattle for BSE as a public health precaution, posted a limp, lame news release on its Web site (running below the California cell phone "controversy") that was less about public safety and much more about leveraging concerns about "loopholes" in the feed ban regulations to show solidarity with Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and others in their efforts to keep the Canadian border closed.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest ran with a surprisingly reasoned statement from Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal focused on forcing the Food and Drug Administration to "strengthen the feed ban" by eliminating plate waste, poultry litter and cattle blood from feed. CSPI also called for prompt implementation of an animal identification system to track cattle that "may have contracted BSE at the same time as any cows that test positive." DeWaal also tossed in a throwaway line about the "dangers" of Advanced Meat Recovery, but closed by noting that "the risk of contracting the human form of BSE is exceedingly small."
Hardly the kind of flaming brimstone CSPI and its activist allies were manufacturing just 12 months ago.
Why is that? Two key reasons.
First, the media's interest in mad cows evaporated months ago. Not only has the flood of BSE cases failed to remotely materialize, but the core of the controversies the activist community is trying to stir up concern only industry members. Consumers don't get energized about FDA feed ban audits and implementation schedules for animal ID systems. Thus, reporters are uninterested in going beyond straight reporting of events.
You want to talk Vioxx, then we've got an FDA story. Otherwise, most people long ago decided that worrying about cattle consuming plate waste is pretty much a waste of time.
Second, despite a few tepid complaints about bureaucratic foot-dragging, the fact is that government and industry have put in motion the kinds of effective, far-reaching protective measures against BSE that Americans can only dream about if the subject were homeland security. Removing nervous system tissue from food products keeps prions from infecting people. And although it's not perfect, both increased testing and tougher oversight on the ruminant feed ban are clearly working to ensure that all we'll ever see is a few isolated cases that won't compromise the beef supply.
That reality is that BSE has become a non-story if there ever was one.
Even better, USDA Secretary-Designate Mike Johanns is already on record as opposing premature release of rapid test results, against allowing private beef producers do their own testing and in favor of keeping markets and borders open to beef trade that ultimately benefits all sectors of the industry.
Yes, the feed ban likely needs stronger rules and better enforcement, and there is a long way to travel in convincing our trading partners that they should welcome U.S. beef imports while we waffle over resuming full trading with Canada.
However, based on how little energy is going into any anti-industry campaigning in the wake of two additional cases of BSE, it's obvious that the disaster activists hoped would happen never did and never will materialize.
And best of all, the iceberg idiots ("These cases are just the tip of the iceberg!") have had their volume controls muted by an already moved-on media and can't-be-bothered consumers.
The silence is so-o-o-o soothing.
Take care and stay warm.
by Dan Murphy on 1/14/05 for Meatingplace.com
With all the commotion swirling around the confirmation of a pair of Canadian BSE cases this new year, I am experiencing an overwhelming emotion.
Joy.
Not because these isolated BSE cases continue to surface. Whether the animals are Canadian-born or Canadian-discovered, the resulting media coverage bodes ill for ongoing efforts on the part of the United States to negotiate a resumption of beef trade with our $1.6 billion dollar trading partners in Japan, a market that's been closed for more than a year.
Not because of the impact on the beef industry. Short-term, any case of BSE delivers negative news to the nation's beef packers, as witnessed by the recent layoffs at Tyson Foods, National Beef Packing Co. and Swift & Co.
And certainly not as a result of the "visionary" handling of the BSE-associated border closures by our esteemed Agriculture Department. What was sorely needed throughout this entire unfolding series of events was enlightened, forceful leadership focused on setting and staying a scientifically guided course on policymaking. On that score, unfortunately, the agency's performance has been less than stellar.
No, I'm happy about this latest chapter in the ongoing crisis of BSE for one reason only: the activist response — or lack of one, to be precise.
Think back a year or so to that memorable Christmas week in 2003. The confirmation of a single BSE-positive cow in Washington state and the subsequent recall of beef products from a single plant in Moses Lake, Wash., fueled a frenzy of condemnation, outrage and predictions of meat industry Armageddon from a host of activists.
It made for a glittery, gift-wrapped holiday for the groups who profit from a career of attacking the integrity and safety of the nation's meat supply.
Cable news spots with activist "experts" gloating about how they had predicted this (alleged) epidemic. Talk show appearances focused on excoriating greedy, death-dealing meatpackers and corrupt, complicit inspection officials. Reams of doom-and-gloom press releases trying to convince Americans their lives were on the line if they so much as fingered a package of hamburger at the supermarket.
For the self-styled experts and self-appointed watchdogs who live to create controversies over meat safety, it was like Santa himself slid down the chimney with a whole sack full of pain and suffering that had the industry's name on it.
Lost in the shouting were several sober predictions from both the private and public sectors that a "handful" of new cases were likely to be found in the months ahead, especially as both Canada and the United States ramped up their BSE surveillance numbers.
That is exactly what has happened, but for all the overheated rhetoric flying around a year ago, today there's relatively little noise coming from the various offices of Activists Inc.
The Center for Media and Democracy, home base for anti-business crusader John "Mad Cow USA" Stauber, didn't even run the "new cases of BSE!" among its top three news items, with mad cow running a distant fourth to stories about Enron's Kenneth Lay (now there's a fresh piece of news), rocket fuel in the drinking water and some feeble offensive against the new White House communications director.
The Consumers Union, the most relentless, vocal campaigners for universal, mandatory testing of all cattle for BSE as a public health precaution, posted a limp, lame news release on its Web site (running below the California cell phone "controversy") that was less about public safety and much more about leveraging concerns about "loopholes" in the feed ban regulations to show solidarity with Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and others in their efforts to keep the Canadian border closed.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest ran with a surprisingly reasoned statement from Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal focused on forcing the Food and Drug Administration to "strengthen the feed ban" by eliminating plate waste, poultry litter and cattle blood from feed. CSPI also called for prompt implementation of an animal identification system to track cattle that "may have contracted BSE at the same time as any cows that test positive." DeWaal also tossed in a throwaway line about the "dangers" of Advanced Meat Recovery, but closed by noting that "the risk of contracting the human form of BSE is exceedingly small."
Hardly the kind of flaming brimstone CSPI and its activist allies were manufacturing just 12 months ago.
Why is that? Two key reasons.
First, the media's interest in mad cows evaporated months ago. Not only has the flood of BSE cases failed to remotely materialize, but the core of the controversies the activist community is trying to stir up concern only industry members. Consumers don't get energized about FDA feed ban audits and implementation schedules for animal ID systems. Thus, reporters are uninterested in going beyond straight reporting of events.
You want to talk Vioxx, then we've got an FDA story. Otherwise, most people long ago decided that worrying about cattle consuming plate waste is pretty much a waste of time.
Second, despite a few tepid complaints about bureaucratic foot-dragging, the fact is that government and industry have put in motion the kinds of effective, far-reaching protective measures against BSE that Americans can only dream about if the subject were homeland security. Removing nervous system tissue from food products keeps prions from infecting people. And although it's not perfect, both increased testing and tougher oversight on the ruminant feed ban are clearly working to ensure that all we'll ever see is a few isolated cases that won't compromise the beef supply.
That reality is that BSE has become a non-story if there ever was one.
Even better, USDA Secretary-Designate Mike Johanns is already on record as opposing premature release of rapid test results, against allowing private beef producers do their own testing and in favor of keeping markets and borders open to beef trade that ultimately benefits all sectors of the industry.
Yes, the feed ban likely needs stronger rules and better enforcement, and there is a long way to travel in convincing our trading partners that they should welcome U.S. beef imports while we waffle over resuming full trading with Canada.
However, based on how little energy is going into any anti-industry campaigning in the wake of two additional cases of BSE, it's obvious that the disaster activists hoped would happen never did and never will materialize.
And best of all, the iceberg idiots ("These cases are just the tip of the iceberg!") have had their volume controls muted by an already moved-on media and can't-be-bothered consumers.
The silence is so-o-o-o soothing.
Take care and stay warm.