Testing and Mad Cow Disease

[Michelle95]

WASHINGTON: The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease.

The Agriculture Department tests fewer than 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. A beef producer in the western state of Kansas, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, wants to test all of its cows.

Larger meat companies feared that move because, if Creekstone should test its meat and advertised it as safe, they might have to perform the expensive tests on their larger herds as well.

The Agriculture Department regulates the test and argued that widespread testing could lead to a false positive that would harm the meat industry.



http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/29/america/NA-GEN-US-Mad-Cow.php

[Vonne]

Really says alot about being an advocate for competition, innovative business practices, or gasp... voluntary quality controls :(

[Old 33]

And this destroys the traditional GOP talking point that we don't need government regulation because private industry would regulate itself.

Here, private industry is trying to regulate itself, and the Bush Administration is trying to stop it.