Obama "Downs" USDA Loopholes
14 March 2009
by Anai Rhoads
AnaiRhoads.org --
President Barack Obama plans to finally put to an end to the loophole that allowed downed cows to be slaughtered and subsequently
introduced into U.S. meat supply.
In the President's weekly address to the nation, Obama emphasised the importance of protecting the country's food supply,
saying it is "something I take seriously, not just as your President, but as a parent."
For years, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) allowed injured, sick and old cows to be incorporated into the
food supply with little recognition from the media. Consumers assumed the meat they were purchasing was thoroughly
tested by the USDA, when in fact the agency was and still is overwhelmed.
Obama has created a new Food Safety Working Group charged with keeping the USDA and farmers in check. This new group
will also create more jobs as the USDA will have to employ more food inspectors.
With so much focus on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) around the world, consumers are understandably concerned
with the meat supply, as well as the vast number of products that have animal tissue or bone in them. Mad cow disease has
claimed 160 lives with many cases yet to be diagnosed. In some cases it can take up
to 10 years after ingesting meat from an infected cow for the disease to appear.
The term "mad cow disease" was coined in Britain after it was discovered there in 1986. In humans, mad cow causes a variant called Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease (CJD), whereby the brain deteriorates via tiny holes. The symptoms can happen rapidly or slowly,
depending on where the holes are forming, and range from epilepsy, to weakness and even blindness.
The cases of downed cows processed in slaughter plants are not isolated. In a review of 12 slaughter plants
observed in 2004 and 2005 by USDA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG), 29 downed cows were discovered to have been
slaughtered for human consumption.
There is an extensive list of products that require tissue, blood and bone from cows. At any given time, anyone
can contract CJD. A condensed list goes as follows:
Estrogen and Progesterone, B 12, iron supplements, mineral sources in most vitamins, all dairy products made from
cow's milk, vaccines, marshmallows, sugar, gelatin capsules used for vitamins,
thyroid hormones, epinephrine (e.g., Epi-pen for serious allergies), insulin, prolactin, lard, shortening, gravy mixes,
make up, shampoos, soaps, perfumes and anti-aging creams.
Other products include glue, adhesives, buttons, fabric dye, pencils, water filters, bandages (e.g. band aids),
emery boards, wallpaper and paste, syringes, leather and combs.
Aside from the health risks to the general public, there is also the issue of animal abuse and suffering.
Downed cows are forced, kicked and sometimes dragged to their death. Oftentimes they are trampled under the
hooves of other cows.
Obama's
swift halt to the USDA's loopholes will not only prevent further mad cow cases in the U.S., but will also put an end to
the suffering of the downed cows.
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