Dept of Agriculture Protecting You?
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g...Dsj1AD90I89K80
I know that there have only been three cases of mad cow disease in the US,
but really why is the govt involved in blocking this testing? If people are willing
to pay more for tested meat, let them! The fact that the govt is going to such
lengths to stop any testing, gets me concerned.
I used to be naive enough to think that this agency was at the forefront of
protecting consumers, kind of like our Boards of Nursing, not there to protect
nurses as some of us thought, but rather to protect the public from us.
If they have any role at all in protecting the public, this story demonstrates a
conflict of interest. It would appear that their first job is in promoting US
agricultural products, not in protecting the consumers of those products.
Originally Posted by ap.google.com
The Bush administration on Friday urged a federal appeals court to stop
meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease, but a
skeptical judge questioned whether the government has that authority.
Less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows are currently tested for the disease
under Agriculture Department guidelines
"This is the government telling the consumers, `You're not entitled to this
information,'" Frye said.
Larger meatpackers have opposed Creekstone's push to allow wider testing
out of fear that consumer pressure would force them to begin testing all animals
too. Increased testing would raise the price of meat by a few cents per pound.
Three cases of mad cow disease have been discovered in the U.S. since 2003.
The district court's ruling last year in favor of Creekstone was supposed to take
effect June 1, 2007, but the Agriculture Department's appeal has delayed the
testing so far.
(hat tip Scott McPherson)
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