Mad Cow Expert John Stauber: US & Canadian Regulations Are a Joke

Jan. 11, 2005
By John Stauber <www.prwatch.org>

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When is the news media going to alert and inform the North American public
regarding the dangerous shortcomings of the current animal feed regulations
in both the US and Canada?

Britain's experiences, reported in my book Mad Cow USA, prove that only with
a total and complete ban on the feeding of rendered slaughterhouse waste to
livestock can the spread of mad cow disease be halted.

In both Canada and the United States annually billions of pounds of rendered
slaughterhouse waste -- primarily mammalian protein, fat and blood -- are
still legally fed to cattle and other livestock.

The 1997 regulations, the so-called "firewall feed ban," are a joke. Under
these existing regulations the following dangrous practices are permitted
and conducted widely in both countries:

Calves are still weaned on cattle blood protein in calf milk replacer;
Cattle are still fed cattle blood protein and cattle fat;
Cattle, pig and chicken slaughterhouse waste is rendered and fed to pigs and
chickens;
Pig and chicken slaughterhouse waste is rendered and fed to cattle.

Any farmer or rancher can easily purchase rendered byproduct feed made from
cattle, and absent a regulatory inspector on every farm or ranch, feed it
with inmpunity to cattle.

Recent news reports in Canada have revealed extensive contamination of even
"vegetable source" livestock feed with animal protein. The situation is
probably similar in the US.

Both Canada and the US refuse to implement the strict, total ban on feeding
livestock to livestock that is in place and working effectively in the UK,
the EU nations and Japan.

The Canadian and US governments are instead following the dictates of the
livestock and animal feed lobbies. Even at this late date, with mad cow
well established for probably a decade in North America, Canada and the US
are allowing slaughterhouse waste to be turned into a cheap source of
supplemental livestock feed, in the process spreading mad cow disease.

There has been, with a few exceptions, a general failure of the news media
in North America to adequately and critically investigate this issue. It
should shame and embarrass journalists that awards have been given to
livestock industry PR firms for their great success in spinning and managing
media coverage of mad cow in North America.

More testing is bound to find more mad cows in both the US and Canada. This
is no doubt why the US is dragging its feet on testing, not allowing full
disclosure of test results, not allowing review of suspect cases by
independent investigators, and banning private testing for BSE.

This situation is unlikely to change until media coverage changes, since
most citizens in both Canada and the US believe what has been reported, that
all the necessary steps to identify and stop the spread of mad cow disease
have been taken. They have not, nor apparently will they be taken anytime
soon.

John Stauber
608-279-4044

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John Stauber, Executive Director, Center for Media and Democracy
520 University Avenue #227, Madison, WI 53703
Phone(608)260-9713 Fax260-9714 http://www.prwatch.org/

--
Co-Author of:
Banana Republicans <http://www.bananarepublicans.org>
Weapons of Mass Deception <http://www.prwatch.org/books/wmd.html>
Trust Us, We're Experts <http://www.prwatch.org/books/experts.html>
Mad Cow USA <http://www.prwatch.org/books/madcow.html>
Toxic Sludge Is Good For You <http://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy.html>