MAD COW NEWS

U.S. bans meat from sick, injured cows To bolster confidence in U.S. beef, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman on Tuesday banned sick and injured cattle - those at the highest risk to have mad cow disease - from the nation's food supply. In a series of actions that even critics lauded, Veneman also moved to: --Prohibit human consumption of certain high-risk cow parts from older cattle, including the brain, eyes, spinal cord and small intestines --Tighten restrictions on controversial slaughterhouse techniques that heighten contamination risks --Require inspectors to hold potentially ill animals out of the food supply until tests confirm they are safe --Speed up plans for a comprehensive national system to track cattle...The offal truth: People enjoy calf brains You can boil it in salted water, drain and chop it into neat little chunks, and then scramble it with a dozen eggs and three tablespoons of butter -- or you could coat it in cream, cheese and spices and fry to a crispy golden brown. Mmmmmm, yummy, brains! With eggs or fried as fritters, they are just like grandma used to make but after the last few days, you may not want to eat them ever again...Other beef-exporting countries fear U.S. ban will harm markets Far from celebrating, cattle producers in countries that compete with American beef products fear the discovery of mad cow disease in the United States will cause havoc in their export markets. The reason: The United States buys more imported beef than any other country. With U.S. beef exports now banned in many countries, more American beef is likely to be sold at home at prices too low for foreign beef producers to match. For Australia and other major beef exporters, the loss of the U.S. market could offset any gains from increased sales in countries such as Japan and South Korea that now ban American beef...Livestock industry officials support move on downer cattle Montana livestock industry officials said Tuesday they support a decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ban so-called "downer" cattle from the human food chain. The move was among the additional safeguards the USDA announced Tuesday that are meant to enhance systems guarding against mad cow disease and to further protect the public health. Steve Pilcher, executive vice president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, said the group supports the "tough decision" that Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman made regarding downer cattle - those that, for whatever reason, cannot move on their own...Official: Mad cow case spotlights labeling requirement The discovery of mad cow disease in the United States may help federal officials realize the importance of country-of-origin meat labeling said Carrie Longwood, executive director of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association. Longwood said South Dakota's congressional delegation supports country-of-origin labeling and that she hopes people in other states will encourage their congressmen to do likewise...Gov. Proposes Cattle Tracking System Gov. Bill Richardson has directed state agricultural officials to study the possibility of implementing a better tracking system for cattle in New Mexico. Richardson asked the state Agriculture Department to study the feasibility of requiring microchips to be implanted in all cattle in the state. He says the chips could provide a quick and sure way of identifying and tracking the animals...Cuba purchase of US cattle delayed over mad cow concerns Communist Cuba said Tuesday it will postpone planned purchases of American cattle after last week's announcement that a Holstein cow in Washington state tested positive for mad cow disease. Pedro Alvarez, head of the Cuban food import company Alimport, said earlier planned sales would go ahead only after authorities here are confident that the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, has been controlled...KF stores took beef off shelves Four chain supermarkets in Klamath Falls withdrew meat products following last week's announcement about a case of mad cow disease in Washington state. But store officials said there's no way to know where meat from the affected cow may have ended up, and that the withdrawal of meat from store counters was simply precautionary. Safeway opted to voluntarily withdraw all ground beef products from its stores in the Northwest until hearing more information from the U.S. Agriculture Department, said Bridget Flanagan, director of public affairs for 120 Safeway stores in Oregon and southwest Washington...US mad cow trade team to return to Washington A U.S. trade delegation that met with Japanese and South Korean officials to discuss their ban on American beef shipments will return to Washington on Wednesday, a U.S. Agriculture Department spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Some two dozen nations have halted U.S. beef shipments since the first case of mad cow disease was discovered in a Holstein dairy cow in Washington state. Last year, the United States exported about $3.2 billion worth of beef products. The USDA trade team visited Tokyo and Seoul this week but did not plan to visit any other countries at this time, the spokeswoman said...Food-borne diseases take heavy toll on public health In the week since mad cow disease was discovered in the United States, more than a million Americans were sickened by food they ate. About 6,000 became so ill they were hospitalized and nearly 100 died, according to federal health estimates. But mad cow disease wasn't the culprit. Indeed, not a single American is known to have contracted the human form of the disease from eating food in this country. Instead, salmonella, E. coli, listeria and other dangerous bacteria routinely take a huge toll on public health, yet get little of the attention that's now focused on the beef from one Washington state Holstein found infected with mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy...Scientist Says Anti-Mad Cow Measure Ignored A U.S. scientist said on Tuesday a simple treatment combining high pressure with heat could neutralize the proteins that cause mad cow disease, but federal officials had shown little interest in it. Dr. Paul Brown of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke said his process, developed with European researchers, would inactivate the prion proteins that cause bovine spongiform encephalopathy without damaging the meat. Normal cooking does not affect prions...Organic Consumers Association Launches 'Mad Cow USA - Stop the Madness' Petition Campaign for Tough New Mad Cow Regulations The Organic Consumers Association, a nationwide grassroots lobby, is launching today a nationwide petition campaign, called Mad Cow USA -- Stop the Madness. Its goal is to educate and mobilize a million Americans to force Congress to enact strict, European- like regulations to stop the spread of Mad Cow Disease in the United States...Beef Futures Remain in Free Fall Beef prices extended their steep decline Tuesday on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, with key contracts falling the exchange-allowed limit for a fourth consecutive session after early buying interest fizzled. The most-active February live cattle contract ended the trading day down 5 cents at 76.17 cents per pound despite virtually the first buying since mad cow disease emerged in a U.S. cow a week earlier. Buyers disappeared by late morning amid talk that beef previously headed for Japan and South Korea - which have been among the top three customers for U.S. beef - already was being shipped back to the United States despite American diplomacy to end a nearly worldwide ban...