Blog For Free!
Archives
Home
2004 March
2004 February
2004 January
2003 November
2003 October
My Links
BbqChili's Cook Shack - HOME
BBQCHILI'S CHILI RECIPES
RATTLER_RED'S RECIPE BOOK
RATTLER RED's Political Blog
RATTLER RED's 'PCBS' Blog
Red Tigress' Lair
Community Supported Agriculture Movement
CASI
Spicy Food Definitions
EPICURIOUS FOOD DICTIONARY
Food Reference: Cooking Tips
Food Reference: Food History
All Chile All the Time
Chileheads Online
Flying ChilePepper - Chile Facts
International Society of Hot Sauce Aficionados
30 Day Gourmet's Freezer Cooking Online Manual
Uncle Phaedrus, Finder of Lost Recipes
The Food Timeline
Culinary Poetry and Humor
tBlog
My Profile
Send tMail
My tFriends
My Images
Sponsored
Blog
1st Ever Annual
Chili Blog Off
Enter Fav Recipe
Variations, etc.
Maurice's BBQ Sauce
and
Specialties
Top Selling Gourmet Food
|
| Mad Cow (BSE) Update |
| 02.05.04 (10:48 am) [edit] |
BSE Update: 2-4-04
BSE REVIEW TEAM'S RECOMMENDATIONS NEED 'THOROUGH RISK ASSESSMENT,'
AMI INSISTS
February 4, 2004
{ News from American Meat Institute newsletter. meatami.com)
'U.S. is not Europe;' panel's risk assumption is 'badly flawed'
An international review team's recommendations to rely on OIE guidelines to govern beef trade among nations at minimal risk for BSE are vital to a rational restoration of beef trade, the American Meat Institute's senior officials told a national teleconference today.
However, the report appears to presume a higher risk than the facts indicate, according to AMI, an assumption that contradicts the regulations and the experiences of the last 15 years in North America.
"The premise that the BSE review panel apparently assumed is that the United States is the same as all other countries that have diagnosed a BSE case," said James Hodges, president of the AMI Foundation. "We reject that premise."
Hodges pointed out that at the height of what can only be called a BSE "epidemic" in the United Kingdom in 1992, as many as one thousand cases of BSE were being diagnosed every week, in a beef herd of slightly more than 13 million animals.
"If that incidence level were transposed to the United States, with our beef herd of nearly 100 million cattle, we would be experiencing almost three million cases of BSE a year," Hodges said. "Clearly, that is not the case. Therefore, recommendations for changing the BSE regulations in place in this country based on the European experience are inappropriate, inconsistent with OIE guidelines and ultimately, illogical."
J. Patrick Boyle, AMI President and CEO, reminded media members on the teleconference that the BSE review panel's report called for the United States "to demonstrate leadership in trade matters" by ensuring that our borders are open to beef trade with countries at minimal risk for BSE, as OIE recommends. However, he noted that the panelists also called for extreme measures, such as total ban on mammalian and avian protein in the entire feed chain, that are at odds with those very same OIE standards.
"It is intellectually inconsistent for this panel to urge the United States to lead the way in allowing the import of beef items and livestock from countries considered at minimal risk for BSE, and then insist that our government impose extremely precautionary measures that OIE clearly identifies as appropriate only for countries at high risk for BSE," Boyle said. "That belies the fact that the United States has already imposed a strict ruminant feed ban and doubled an already dramatically aggressive BSE surveillance program in response to the single case of BSE identified in December."
Hodges pointed out that the review panel recommended an extension of FDA's current feed ban to include a ban on all avian and mammalian proteins being fed to ruminants in the United States.
However, he stressed that the panel's rationale was based not on an assessment of the risk but on European problems with cross-contamination.
"The reason that Europe needed to move to a complete ban on mammalian protein from the entire feed chain was because their feed stocks had become hopelessly contaminated in the wake of the BSE epidemic in the UK," Hodges said. "They had no other choice, but it would be inconceivable for the United States to adopt a similar strategy, since our feed ban has been closely monitored and strictly enforced."
In response to a question about how the U.S. beef industry should react to the BSE review panel's extreme recommendation on feed ingredients, Hodges suggested that several options are available:
· Retain the current FDA feed ban, which was recently extended to exclude plate waste, poultry litter and blood products;
· Remove the high-risk SRMS from the feed chain;
· Remove all SRMS from the fee chain;
· Remove all mammalian proteins from all animal feed.
"But rather than jump to conclusions about what is necessary or unnecessary, what is needed is a thorough, methodical public and regulatory review of this entire report," Hodges said. "We need to scientifically evaluate all the options -- based on the facts surrounding our single case of BSE -- before we move toward any further regulatory action."
Boyle ended the teleconference by noting that the U.S. precautions in place to protect our herds from BSE have functioned as they should.
"The firewalls we already have in place have served us well," he said. "The facts show that our BSE protective measures, even before the federal government recently imposed extraordinary additional precautions, have worked to prevent the spread and the amplification of this animal disease in our country. Had we not taken those measures years ago, perhaps we could more easily accept some of recommendations this BSE panel made today.
"As the panel's report states, our system works, our herds have been protected and our beef supply remains safe," Boyle concluded. "AMI is confident that a sound, scientific assessment of the real -- not the perceived -- risks to our cattle herd will show that no additional regulatory changes are required."
For more information please visit AMI at: http://www.meatami.com/
|
|
|
| |
posted by: BbqChili (reply)
post date: 02.05.04 (11:00 am)
The American Mad Cow incident has been blown way out of proportion, especially overseas.
It has done considerable damage to the American cattle industry. But, it's good to see that alot is being done to prevent any further harm.
Don't fall victim to the overseas reactions. It is an intentional action, designed to hurt the U.S. economy.
|
|
