July 22, 2004 U.S. Newswire

A key finding of McGarity's research is that because of a significant loophole in the government's regulations concerning handling of especially risky SRMs from slaughtered cattle -- brains, ganglia, and other body parts that can spread Mad Cow disease -- troubling practices are now both legal and widespread in the beef slaughter and processing industry. The loophole permits industry to elect not to implement the rigorous standards for specific controls at specific points in processing, simply by asserting -- as almost all establishments apparently have -- that Mad Cow disease is unlikely to be a problem in their facility. After reaching that conclusion on their own, and without government approval, industry is then allowed to follow far less rigorous industry-drafted Standard Operation Procedures, sometimes called "prerequisite" programs, to keep brain, spinal cord and the like out of edible meat. They are not required to actually check for Mad Cow. The failings of this system are potentially disastrous, and include:

-- Self-regulation. Slaughter and processing establishments are permitted to devise their own plans for identifying and preventing the spread of risky materials, without any requirement for government approval.

-- Informal measures. Establishments' methods for preventing mad cow are far less formal and far less thorough than the government's regulations or public statements would suggest. Establishments are not required to check for Mad Cow or even perform simple tests on brain and other risky nervous system tissues.

-- Meaningless Sanctions for Failure. Establishments found to have allowed risky materials in their beef because of failures in the design or implementation of their self-devised control plans are not even penalized.

"The sad truth is that the Administration's response to the Mad Cow discovery of last December is so inadequate, so shaped by a desire to prop up industry sales, that consumers are left with hollow promises of protection," McGarity said. "From the first day of the Mad Cow scare, USDA has behaved like a cheerleader for the industry, right up to the point that the secretary of agriculture promised to eat beef for the holidays. The public would have been better served if USDA had been primarily concerned more about public health, and less about industry profit."

Professor McGarity is a law professor at the University of Texas, and President of the Center for Progressive Regulation, a network of progressive scholars active on regulatory issues

The complete 160-page report, a separate executive summary, and a more thorough news release are available in PDF form at: http://www.progressiveregulation.org/ issue(under)food(under)saftey.cfm.

Direct media inquiries to Matthew Freeman at freeman(At)progressiveregulation.org or 301-762-8980. Visit CPR's website at: http://www.progressiveregulation.org http://www.usnewswire.com CONTACT: Matthew Freeman of the Center for Progressive Regulation, 301-762-8980 or mfreeman@progressiveregulation.org