January 10, 2004 NewsMax by Edward I. Koch

As a reaction to the panic caused by mad cow disease in Great Britain and the European continent, control measures were put into effect, including the slaughter of millions of cattle. The disease, which is not infectious, is spread through cattle feed that has brain and spinal material from adult cattle mixed with the grain.

According to The New York Times, Great Britain and Europe now test "all cattle over two years old, all sick cattle and a small percentage of apparently healthy ones. Last year, they tested ten million cows. Japan tests all the cows it slaughters each year, 1.2 million."

Each year, 35 million cattle are slaughtered in the U.S. According to a beef industry survey, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that "only 20,526 animals were tested last year" for mad cow disease. Until the rules were changed last week, tested animals were placed in the food chain before test results were received.

It costs approximately $25 to $50 to test each cow, plus meat storage costs until results are available. "Test makers say that works out to only pennies per pound," according to The Times, referring to the whole slaughtered animal. In Europe, mad cow tests take three hours.

A recent and foolish editorial in Newsday stated that "alarm is uncalled for." Ridiculous. It is because the public was lied to and lulled into complacency by false assurances that we are where we now are - frightened and no longer believing government pronouncements on the subject.

Those in charge of regulating the food supply in every country dealing with the disease corruptly or stupidly believed their highest priority was insuring the cattle industry's profits rather than safeguarding the public's health. So people were told there was little or nothing to worry about, with the head regulator of each country usually promising he or she would feed beef to their children that very evening.

While we test very few animals, Japan tests every single cow upon slaughter. We know how the disease is transmitted. While we have barred by federal regulation "feeding bits of cows and other ruminants back to cows," such remnants can lawfully be fed to pigs and chickens, which are fed back to cows.

In addition, cow blood, which cannot be guaranteed to be free of disease, is widely fed to calves as a "milk replacer." Deer infected with a disease comparable to mad cow disease are rendered into cattle feed.

Meat stripped from close to cows' spinal columns is often found in feed. According to The Times, "35% of the meat [stripped by machine] tested positive for central nervous system tissue," the kind of tissue that carries mad cow disease and ends up in hamburger meat served to the public.

Clearly, cows are not the only crazies. Government regulators must be nuts, and we the public even crazier, for allowing Congress to be at the beck and call of the cattle owners and meatpackers. According to The Times, "Europe, Canada and Japan have instituted government regulated mandatory systems to trace animals from their birth to the grocery." These countries "also require extensive testing of cattle herds, not the small risks assessment used in the U.S. that tests 20,000 to 30,000 cows or about 0.03 percent of the herds."

The U.S. does not have a national registry. The Department of Agriculture has now announced that it intends to create a voluntary national database to trace animals. In other countries, this is already compulsory.

Ann M. Veneman, secretary of agriculture, responding to the boycott of American beef by 30 countries which buy 10 percent of our slaughtered cows, is implementing regulations to satisfy those countries. I have no confidence in her or her agency. As of last week, the new regulation requires that any cow tested is not to be put into the food chain. Good, but not good enough. Test every cow.

Many ask why cows which are herbivores, not carnivores, are being fed meat in any form. This may be an old-fashioned reference, but it surely applies here: "It is against nature's law."

I have not discussed the alleged carrier of the disease, the misfolded protein (called a prion) which causes bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), because it is too technical for my brain cells to digest. And there is a dispute among scientists as to whether the prion is the carrier, somewhat similar to the disputed view of a small number of AIDS researchers who still believe that HIV is not the cause of AIDS.

But I know we aren't doing enough to protect our meat supply. What should American consumers, worried that our legislators are not taking sufficient action, do? Organize a beef boycott for one day to show our concern and numbers. On that day, let not a single rib steak (my cut of choice) or pound of hamburger be purchased or eaten in the U.S. Let the president, himself a cattle rancher, appoint a blue ribbon committee to oversee Secretary of Agriculture Veneman.

Surely, in this country of nearly 300 million citizens, there are 10 outstanding women and men willing to step forward and offer their service pro bono to protect the food supply and stand up to an industry that is willing to sacrifice its consumers in pursuit of the almighty dollar. If we can't be protected, then we should all consider becoming vegetarians or vegans.

Edward I. Koch is the former mayor of New York City. His commentary for Bloomberg radio is republished here. You can hear his weekly radio show by clicking here.