View Single Post
  #26  
Old December 30th 03, 05:15 AM
Cheryl
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

MacCandace wrote in on
29 Dec 2003:

What I'd like to know, but will probably never find out, is how
this cow got into the food chain in the first place, and why only
after it got there, did someone decide to raise a flag??

Judy

The way I understood it from what I read is that this was a dairy cow
and the only reason it was slaughtered is because it was ill and
stumbling around. Now that's what's really scary. A sick cow such as
this is referred to as a "downer" cow and only 10 percent of downer
cows that are slaughtered are tested so, conceivably, this could be a
much huger problem. But really, how gross, to pick a sick cow and
purposely slaughter it and then have it sliced up and rendered? Yuk.


And according to the USDA and their "emotional" response to BSE they issued
this FAQ

What actions are taken at USDA-inspected slaughter establishments to ensure
that cattle with neurological disease would not enter the human food
supply?

All cattle presented for slaughter in the United States are inspected
before slaughter by FSIS for signs of CNS impairment. Any animals
exhibiting neurologic signs during this inspection are condemned, and the
meat is not permitted for use as human food. The brains from these animals
are submitted to USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories for
analysis.
http://aphisweb.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/i...-overview.html


--
Cheryl

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I
can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do."
- Helen Keller