Complain about a product or service

Third Case Of Mad Cow Disease Reported In U.S.

March 14, 2006

• Massive Beef Recall Follows Mad Cow Scare • Lawmakers Call For Slaughterhouse Probe • USDA Closes Plant Suspected Of Slaughtering Downer Cows • Schools Drop Burgers From Menu After Downer Cow Scare • Canada Reports New Mad Cow Case • Meat Packer Clashes With Feds Over Inspections • Industrial "Food" a Growing Menace • USDA Proposes Lifting Mad Cow Ban On Canadian Beef • Scientists Create Mad Cow-Proof Cattle • Virginia Man Has Mad Cow Disease • Feds Fail to Step Up Mad Cow Surveillance • Third Case Of Mad Cow Disease Reported In U.S. • USDA Report Warns Meat Supply at Risk of Mad Cow Disease • Two Drugs Offer Hope Against Mad Cow Disease • Canada Finds Another Case Of Mad Cow Disease • FDA Proposes Stricter Mad Cow Safeguards • U.S. Will Strengthen Mad Cow Safeguards, FDA Chief Says • Consumers Union Wants More Data on Mad Cow Testing • Mad Cow Concerns Trigger Beef Recall In Six States • Meat Industry Ignores Mad Cow Regulations • More ...

The United States' latest case of mad cow disease is in Alabama, where the carcass of a cow tested positive for the deadly disease.

Consumer's Union immediately called on the federal government to take additional precautions to prevent Mad Cow Disease from getting into the human food chain, as it did in Britain, where it is blamed for at least 150 deaths.

"It's unacceptable that the American public has been waiting for more than two years for the FDA to tighten its animal feed rules," said Jean Halloran, food policy expert at Consumers Union.

In October 2005, the FDA proposed a different course: banning cattle brains and spinal cords from chicken and pig feed. FDA argued that this would prevent any infectious material present in cattle brains from coming back to cattle via the chicken coop floor wastes.

However this proposal is still pending, and has been criticized as too weak by both industry representatives and consumer advocates.

"We shouldn't wait for a major outbreak of mad cow disease to take greater preventive action. There is no question that we should not be feeding the remains of any mammals to food animals, and by not closing this dangerous loophole, we are exposing the American public to unnecessary risk," Halloran said.

Consumers Union also urges USDA to expand its surveillance program, which tests less than 1 percent of US cattle per year and to require that all cattle over 20 months of age be tested at slaughter for mad cow disease.

The group also said consumers can minimize any risk of exposure to beef that may harbor mad cow disease by buying organic beef.

Organic production prohibits any use of animal by-products in feed. Consumers can also protect themselves by avoiding the higher-risk parts of the animal such as brains, and beef cuts that combine meat from a number of animals, such as sausage, hot dogs, and hamburger.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Back to the top |