USDA And FDA Not Doing Enough To Protect Consumers From Mad Cow Disease
The following is a press release from December 29, 2003, by Kucinich's office in Congress
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Kucinich: USDA And FDA Not Doing Enough To Protect Consumers From Mad Cow Disease
To Introduce Legislation To Protect Consumers From Future Outbreaks
Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) released the following statement today on the Mad Cow case:
“The unfortunate discovery of a dairy cow in Washington State infected with Mad Cow Disease, or BSE, is a result of irresponsible US agricultural policies. BSE in the United States is preventable but the US Department of Agriculture (UDSA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must do more to protect American consumers.
“Last year, the USDA tested only 19,990 cattle believed to be at risk for Mad Cow Disease, out of a population of about 96 million or 1 out of every 5,000 cattle. By contrast in Europe, every single animal above a given age gets tested for this fatal brain-wasting disease (one out of every four cattle).
“USDA argues that there is no risk to humans because slaughter houses are required to remove all central nervous system (CNS) tissue from sick cattle. This tissue is where BSE is found and can infect humans if eaten. However, removing this tissue is rarely completely effective. USDA's own studies found that 35 percent of advanced meat recovery product tested was contaminated with CNS tissue.
“While the USDA-sponsored Harvard risk assessment of BSE in the U.S. noted that compliance with FDA’s 1997 BSE feed rule is the most important factor in preventing a BSE outbreak, it is clear that this rule is not being rigorously enforced. Two GAO reports have shown how lax FDA has been in ensuring compliance with the feed rule. The first GAO report published some three years after the BSE feed rule went into effect found fairly widespread non-compliance. The 2002 GAO report found no improvement and found that the FDA compliance data was unreliable.
“When Congress returns I intend to introduce legislation that will:
Prohibit meat from downer cattle from entering the human food supply;
Test all downer cattle using modern rapid quick tests (estimates range from 190,000 to 970,000 cattle);
Establish a mandatory trace back system for all bovines;
· Require mandatory recall of food products infected;
· Prohibit the feeding of the remains of any mammal to any animals that humans eat;
Tighten the law on dietary supplements, which currently allow supplements to contain CNS tissue;
Require doctors and hospitals to report all cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“More can and must be done to protect Americans, and our economy, from this devastating disease and the public panic it can cause.”
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