US Bans 'Downer' Cattle from Human Food Supply

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USDA bans downer cattle from human food

Last Updated: 2003-12-31 8:00:06 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Abbott

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said on

Tuesday the government was banning downer cattle - animals too sick

or injured to walk on their own at the slaughter plant - from being

used as food for humans.

Veneman told a news conference the Agriculture Department would

continue its " aggressive surveillance " of cattle for neurological

ailments that could signal mad cow disease. Meat from those animals

cannot be sold until tests show they are free of mad cow disease, she

said.

As a precaution, Veneman said, processors would be barred from using

the brains, eyes and small intestines of cattle in human food. Also,

there will be a new regulation to ensure spinal tissue does not enter

human meat products as a result of using sophisticated meat recovery

systems that scrape tiny bits of meat off the bones of a carcass.

" The actions we are taking today are steps to enact additional

safeguards to protect the public health, " Veneman said.

Packing plants will be barred from using air injection stunning to

kill cattle as another precaution, she announced. In that method, an

air-injection rifle is used to stun cattle before they are killed.

However, the injection of air into the brain can cause nervous system

tissue to spread throughout the body.

" USDA is also working to take the next steps toward implementation of

a verifiable system of a national animal identification, " Veneman

said. The first step of the voluntary animal identification program

was expected July 2004, with the release of identification numbers

for farms, ranches and feedlots.

Veneman said she did not expect the new measures to cause an increase

in beef prices for consumers because " this involves a very small

number of animals in the scheme of things. "

There are an estimated 150,000-200,000 downer cattle out of 35

million slaughtered each year in the United States. She also said the

new steps would not be overly costly. " I don't anticipate that the

change in the specified risk materials, the ban on downer animals in

the food system, are going to cost the USDA significant amounts of

money or for that matter the industry significant amounts of money, "

she said.

A meat industry official said the new restrictions might prompt

slaughterhouses to refuse to accept downer cattle. That would impair

USDA's mad-cow surveillance system, which relies on spotting suspect

animals at slaughter.

" The practical reality is most plants will say 'no downers', " the

meat official said. The USDA is investigating the cause of the first

U.S. case of mad cow disease. The disease was found in a Holstein

dairy cow in Washington state last week.

Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited.