Where I Stand — Columnist Mike O’Callaghan: American mad cow saga

Friday, Jan. 9, 2004 | 5:27 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

WEEKEND EDITION

January 10 - 11, 2004

AMERICANS SHOULD HOPE that the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and other advocates for less control over the raising, slaughtering and selling of beef have learned a lesson. The recent discovery that the meat of a mad cow had entered a small segment of the market should have taught the lobbyists an expensive lesson. It was only hours after the announcement of a cow butchered in the state of Washington with the disease that several foreign countries shut down the flow of American beef into their markets. Then came the scramble to trace where the meat had been sold and what other cows might be in the same condition.

It has been a costly mistake that could have been prevented if proposed regulations had been implemented by Congress. It was only last summer that an attempt was made in Congress to keep "downer" cows from being slaughtered for consumption. The lobbyists and their friends in Congress blocked the attempt to keep sick cattle from being dragged into the slaughterhouse. Too many people have been willing to forget about the results of this brain-wasting disease in Great Britain. It resulted in human death and the destruction of more than four million British-owned cows.

The British cow problem resulted in the United States banning the importation of beef from that country. Six years ago scientists determined that the disease can be passed on when the remains of sick cows are ground up in the feed for healthy cows. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration passed a regulation to stop this feeding procedure, but several loopholes remained allowing the feed to be used for other animals. Also, the enforcement of the regulation was less than strict.

The beef cattle industry and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have found themselves in a costly mess, which resulted in some immediate changes. The USDA, too long in bed with the cattle industry, was forced by public opinion to move and move fast. One of the new regulations would ban the use of cows that can't walk from entering the food supply chain. Believe it or not, the cattlemen's lobbyist objected because not all "downer" cows have the dreaded disease. He proposes that each "downer" could only be rejected by a federal veterinarian. This suggestion seems rather selfish being that a separate examination for each "downer" isn't possible with the present staff of veterinarians. McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King don't use meat from "downers."

Some of the other new regulations include:

These regulations are a step forward as we learn more about the problem. Let's hope that it has taught all legislators that lobbyists are used to promote the profit of industries and not the health and welfare of our nation's consumers.

Have we finally solved the mad cow disease problems that surfaced in Washington? We won't know the answer to that question for several more years. The disease can be incubated for 10 years or more.

This small story appeared in The New York Times last week:

"LONDON, Jan.5 -- The number of people in Britain who died from a brain disease related to mad cow increased in 2003 for the first time in four years, the Department of Health said Monday.

"Eighteen people died in 2003 from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the agency said, up from 17 in 2002. The disease, known as V.C.J.D., is thought to stem from eating infected beef and attacks the human brain in much the same way as mad cow attacks the bovine brain ..."

Despite the recent scare in our country, American-raised roast beef will be on my table at least one or more times this week. Compared to most nations our food supply is well protected.