Mad Cows and Englishmen ( The Blokes Who Test Them)

' "There is no risk whatsoever," he ( Mike Johanns, US Secretary of Agriculture) told reporters in a hastily organized conference call Friday night. '  One always releases bad news to the distracted American public on Friday night, as they happily head home  focussed on weekend plans or this month fixated on Michael Jackson's fate...The story, reported by Alexei Barrionuevo, appeared in the NYTimes Saturday, June 11.

Yes, Virginia, we have  a mad cow or two or three or more  in the USA. 

"The beef cow, which was nine years old and could not stand, was first tested last November and passed three initial tests. Then the Agriculture Department's inspector general, in reviewing the department's mad cow testing program, requested that the cow and two other previously suspect animals be tested again with a different technology that is used in Europe. The one cow tested positive on Friday.

Agriculture Department officials said they did not yet know which state the cow came from.
A sample of the animal's brain tissue will be sent to a laboratory in Weybridge, England, and results should be available in a few days, a spokesman said."

There is no risk, absolutely none, dig into your prime rib, but we, uh, the government, have no clue as to where the latest damned maddening cow came from.

Blame Canada! ( Can we?)

( Cow pictured is not known to be mad, and appears content to be near its fodder, if not its mudder. As for its udder, well...)

Comments

[Foodie]

Scroll down , way down, for a lengthy look at Mad Cow from
Accidental Hedonist.
http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/

[KathyF]

I've heard rumblings about this lately, but this is old news to those of us who've followed the mad cow story for years. We've known forever that the test used here is no good, and used far too infrequently, to ever spot BSE. But then I think that's the point.

[Foodie]

One point that really gets in my craw is that cows are vegetarian animals, many of them being forced to eat their own kind, in the ground up meal.
A pal of mine is convinced her middle aged friend died of this disease over 4 years ago in this country. We took the story to the Center for Science in the Public Interest but it didn't take off.