March 29, 2006
Farmer takes the fight to USDA over mad cow testing
While Asian chicken farmers are apprehensive when inspectors come around to check for bird flu, a US beef producer is suing the USDA for not allowing it to test its animals.
Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, stung by a USDA decision rejecting the company's proposal to do BSE testing on every animal, is now doing everything it can to make USDA wish it had done differently.
Creekstone's CEO John Stewart went on a publicity blitz after throwing down the gauntlet at USDA's front door, announcing his intention to sue the government organisation.
US farms need government certification to test each animal. The USDA refused the company's request in 2004, guarding its exclusive right to do testing based on a 100-year-old law. Stewart's suit challenged the validity of that claim.
Stewart visited the headquarters of international news service CNN, financial news site Bloomberg.com and major US newspapers to rally them to his cause, raising alarms at the federal organization as officials desperately sought damage control.
Creekstone Farms' customers, especially those from Asia, have repeatedly asked for testing on every animal, said Stewart, adding that the US should be able to provide that.
The Japanese ban in 2003 cost Creekstone nearly one-third of its sales and forced it to lay off about 150 people, Stewart said.
The USDA and large meat packing organizations oppose such testing, saying it cannot assure food safety. The big four packers insist such a move might backfire and create even more distrust and scare consumers away from beef.
Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute, said existing testing measures should reassure customers are adequate as the US risk of BSE is small and in fact declining.
Stewart has the backing of R-CALF USA, an organisation of several thousand cattlemen. The group promptly issued a press release supporting Creekstone. R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard said voluntary testing for BSE would help reopen and maintain certain export markets for US beef, which in turn, would benefit thousands of cattle producers.
