April 2, 2007

 

Creekstone Farms ready to work with USDA to enhance US beef value

 

 

Creekstone Farms Premium Beef said Friday (Mar 30) it is ready to work with the US Department of Agriculture to enhance the value of US beef via voluntary testing for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease.

 

The statement came after Federal District Judge James Robertson ruled Thursday that the USDA's prohibition against the private use of rapid test kits to screen cattle for BSE was unlawful. Judge Robertson further ruled that if the USDA does not appeal prior to June 1, Creekstone will be allowed to test for the disease.

 

Creekstone wants to test all its cattle for the disease and filed a lawsuit in March 2006 against the USDA to gain approval so it could appeal to certain international and domestic customers who wanted every slaughtered animal tested. The USDA contended that such a move would be the same as admitting that all cattle needed to be tested for the disease and withheld permission for Creekstone to buy the test kits.

 

The USDA and some other organisations and meat companies feared that if Creekstone is allowed to test and advertise its beef as tested for BSE, it could undermine consumer confidence in the safety of US beef products. The USDA has said testing the young cattle that Creekstone slaughters is useless since the rate of BSE in the US is extremely small--and it does not show up in the younger cattle that Creekstone slaughters.

 

Some feared allowing Creekstone to test could create a demand for the expensive procedure that consumers weren't willing to pay for. Creekstone has maintained that its reason for testing is simply to satisfy the demands of some customers.

 

"We are very pleased with the ruling handed down by the court and we stand ready to work with the USDA," said Dennis Buhlke, Creekstone president, in a release. "This decision confirms the position Creekstone has taken for over three years that the USDA should not prevent businesses from responding to their customers' demands for more information about their products, such as BSE testing."

 

The US Agriculture Department currently regulates the test and administers it to about 1 percent of slaughtered cattle--those that are older and show symptoms of neurological problems.

 

Following the news of the ruling, the American Meat Institute's Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Counsel Mark Dopp issued a statement saying, "AMI opposes BSE testing for marketing purposes. Testing is an important tool for animal disease surveillance.

 

"Targeted BSE testing is one component of an effective, multiple-hurdle BSE firewall system used to detect and eventually eliminate BSE from North America," Dopp said. "Testing all animals will not make beef safer, and is unnecessary for both animal disease surveillance and food safety purposes."

 

Joe Schuele, director of trade media for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said, "the NCBA has gathered extensive guidance from experts in the animal health community, and the international consensus is that 100 percent testing for BSE is not warranted, nor is it the most effective method for preventing the spread of the disease or eliminating human health risks from the disease.

 

However, Creekstone did have its supporters. R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America issued a statement saying the cattlemen's group "was pleased to learn that a federal district court has ruled that the USDA's action of prohibiting Creekstone...from voluntarily testing cattle for BSE is unlawful."