flowerpower
April 5th, 2006, 06:50 AM
(AP) A Kansas meatpacker has sparked an industry fight by proposing testing all the company's cattle for mad cow disease. Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to look for the disease in every animal it processes. The Agriculture Department has said no. Creekstone has sued the department.
Creekstone Farms says it has Japanese customers who want comprehensive testing. The Agriculture dept threatened criminal prosecution if Creekstone did the tests, according to the company's lawsuit.
The department and larger meat companies oppose comprehensive testing, saying it cannot assure food safety. Testing, they say, rarely detects the disease in younger animals, the source of most meat.
Larger companies worry that Japanese buyers would insist on costly testing and that a suspect result might scare consumers away from eating beef.
Japan was the most lucrative foreign market for American beef until the first U.S. case of mad cow disease prompted a ban in 2003. The ban cost Creekstone nearly one-third of its sales and led the company to slash production and lay off about 150 people.
Testing for mad Cow Disease in the US is controlled by the Dept which tests around 1 percent of the 35 million head of cattle slaughtered each year, although officials have been planning to scale back that level of testing.
Private companies certified by the dept make screening tests used to detect Mad Cow Disease. The dept says it has sole authority over the sale and use of the tests.
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Edited for Length- flowerpower
Creekstone Farms says it has Japanese customers who want comprehensive testing. The Agriculture dept threatened criminal prosecution if Creekstone did the tests, according to the company's lawsuit.
The department and larger meat companies oppose comprehensive testing, saying it cannot assure food safety. Testing, they say, rarely detects the disease in younger animals, the source of most meat.
Larger companies worry that Japanese buyers would insist on costly testing and that a suspect result might scare consumers away from eating beef.
Japan was the most lucrative foreign market for American beef until the first U.S. case of mad cow disease prompted a ban in 2003. The ban cost Creekstone nearly one-third of its sales and led the company to slash production and lay off about 150 people.
Testing for mad Cow Disease in the US is controlled by the Dept which tests around 1 percent of the 35 million head of cattle slaughtered each year, although officials have been planning to scale back that level of testing.
Private companies certified by the dept make screening tests used to detect Mad Cow Disease. The dept says it has sole authority over the sale and use of the tests.
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Edited for Length- flowerpower