Mad Cow Disease

The Food and Drug Administration "banned brains and other cattle parts that could carry mad cow disease from use in cosmetics and dietary supplements, but delayed some similar safeguards in animal feed for up to two years." In January, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson proposed an "i

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued an order instructing its inspectors in Texas, where federal mad cow disease testing policies recently were violated, not to talk about the cattle disorder with outside parties," reports Steve Mitchell. The order, sent by email from the USDA's Dallas office, instructed that "all BSE inquiries MUST be directed to Congressional Public Affairs" office in Washington DC.

"It is ironic in the extreme that an administration that's so interested in letting industry come up with its own solutions would come down with a heavy government hand on a company that's being creative," said one public health expert, commenting on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision not to allow Kansas' Creekstone Farms to test every cow it processes for mad cow disease. Creekstone wants 100% testing in order to resume sales to Japan, South Korea and other countries banning U.S.

At the upcoming meeting of the Public Relations Society of America, "the Washington Beef Commission will unveil how it turned the PR nightmare discovery of Mad Cow... into an opportunity to educate the public about the hype surrounding the disease." According to meatingplace.com, the Japanese government isn't buying the U.S.