BSE ... It's What's For Dinner 12 February 2004 By Stentor
Danielson American beef consumers have gotten off easy. Monday,
the US Department of Agriculture has ended its investigation
into the presence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) --
aka mad cow disease -- in American cattle. The investigation
started after a cow slaughtered in December was found to suffer
from BSE. Officials recalled meat and attempted to trace the
feed from which the infected animal contracted the disease.
Though 11 of the 25 cattle suspected of having eaten the
contaminated feed have not been found, the USDA concluded that
the risk to consumers is low. While the concluding of this case
is relieving, the difficulties encountered by the USDA in
tracking down potentially infected cattle, feed, and meat should
give us pause. It is still unknown where the feed that infected
the sick cow came from, or what happened to the 10,410 pounds of
meat that was recalled during the scare. Fifty countries,
including major customers Japan and M