Consumers Union Says USDA Plan to Test More Cows for BSE Not Enough

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 16, 2004

CONTACT: Consumers Union
Jean Halloran, 914-378-2457
Adam Goldberg, 202-462-6262

USDA Announcement of More Mad Cow Testing Still Inadequate to Protect Public
Health

WASHINGTON - March 16 - Consumers Union, the independent, non-profit
publisher of Consumer Reports, said today that the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA)¹s recently announced plans to expand its mad cow
disease testing program are inadequate to ensure that the public is
protected from the human form of this deadly brain wasting disease. The
group called on USDA to, at a minimum, test all cattle over 20 months of age
and to speed up the testing program.

USDA announced on March 15 that beginning in June for a one-and-a-half year
period it would test 201,000 to 268,000 animals for Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy (BSE), more commonly known as mad cow disease. This is up
from the 40,000 animals USDA had previously said it would test. The plan
includes testing mostly "downer" cattle, those unable to walk on their own,
because they are considered to be at the highest risk for having BSE.

USDA¹s increased testing program comes in response to the finding of a
BSE-infected cow in Washington State in December 2003. The cow that was
discovered to be BSE-infected, however, was not a downer cow. Under the new
program, USDA plans to test only 20,000 healthy-appearing cattle.

"USDA¹s new testing plan would still have us testing less than one percent
of the 35 million cattle slaughtered in this country each year, and less
than a tenth of a percent of healthy animals" said Jean Halloran, director
of Consumers Union¹s Consumer Policy Institute. "France and Germany test
more than half of all animals at slaughter and Japan tests every animal. The
USDA plan is simply not sufficient to assure the safety of beef."

In a press briefing yesterday, Ron DeHaven, USDA¹s Chief Veterinary Officer
stated that the purpose of the USDA¹s new program is in fact not food
safety. He stated, "It¹s not a food safety test. It¹s a surveillance test."

Halloran noted, "A research program is not enough. We need a safety program
that assures the safety of every hamburger and steak in the supermarket."

USDA also described this new testing regime as a "one-time" effort.

"This must be an ongoing program, not a one time research project," Halloran
added. "In this era of a global economy, and at a time when we have a
widespread epidemic of a similar disease in wild deer and elk in western
states and Wisconsin, we will have to be vigilant about mad cow disease for
many years, at a minimum."

USDA announced it was turning to quick tests, which give results in a few
hours and cost a tenth of USDA¹s current test method, a step Consumers Union
has repeatedly recommended.

"USDA should at least require that all cattle over the age of 20 months are
tested at slaughter," Halloran continued. "That¹s the best way to ensure
that no mad cow infected cattle make it into the food supply."

###