USDA Done With Mad Cow Investigation

By George Anderson


The Department of Agriculture (USDA) has declared victory and said the investigation into the country’s first known case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy or mad cow disease
is over, even though the agency located only 28 of 80 cows that were shipped to the United States with the sick animal.


Ron DeHaven, chief veterinarian, USDA said, “We feel very confident that the remaining animals, the ones we were not able to identify, represent little risk.”


Moderator’s Comment: Has the government’s handling of the case of BSE resulted in consumers
and trading partners becoming more or less confident in the safety of the U.S. food supply?


We’ve agreed with the USDA all along that the case of mad cow disease found in Washington posed little risk to the health of consumers.


We couldn’t help shaking our heads, however, when we were reading the following quote from Ron DeHaven. “We never expected to be able to find all of them.”


We don’t know about you, but we feel much more confident in the USDA food safety policing efforts now and we’re sure trading partners such as Japan feel
the same way — Not!
George
Anderson – Moderator


BrainTrust

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