April 8, 2004

US Rejects Meatpackers Plan For Blanket Mad Cow Testing
 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture rejected a meatpacker's plan to test all of its herd for mad cow disease.

Creekstone Farms Premium Beef LLC, a Kentucky-based company, was seeking to privately test each animal at its Arkansas City, Kansas plant in order to meet Japan's demand for testing of all cattle that it buys. The company said its customers in Japan agreed to purchase its beef if the tests were conducted.

The Agriculture Department has been under pressure to expand its testing program of cattle for the disease, which is believed to cause the fatal human variant called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

The American Meat Institute, the meatpacking industry's trade association, says testing of all cattle is unnecessary and expensive. The U.S. beef industry worried that Creekstone's plan would set a precedent for trade negotiations.