The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) last week proposed to
expand its list of allowable imports of meat and meat products from
countries considered to present a low risk of introducing BSE into
the United States.
The number of Canadian cattle being tested for BSE per month has
substantially decreased, claims a US cattle group demanding
restrictions on beef imports from Canada, writes Anthony
Fletcher.
The US government is investing a further $2 million to enhance
research on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and $5 million
to establish a Food Safety Research and Response Network.
UN-backed food organisation warns food producers and consumers to
stay calm, after a few cases of mad cow disease are identified in
Canada and the US, and last month the first case of Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in a goat.
Recent North American media reports claiming that parts of the
BSE-positive cow discovered in Canada in May 2003 may have been
turned into feed and mistakenly fed to cattle have been pounced on
by US beef industry groups.
Europe's food safety authority backs calls for a rapid test for
live cattle in the battle against Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
and which could save on needless culling.
Scientists at Europe's food watchdog have upped their assessment of
the risk of finding mad cow disease in the United States, Canada
and Norway following an extensive study of data collected between
1980-2003.
Food safety concerns rise in the UK as the Food Standards Agency
launches an investigation into the apparent failure by the meat
hygiene arm of the food watchdog to test some casualty cattle aged
between 24 and 30 months for BSE before...
Public concern over BSE outbreaks is set to boost sales of organic
meat products in North America, according to a new report. But
North Americans have not historically been as influenced by food
scares as their European counterparts.
The ongoing BSE crisis in the US has forced the government to take
drastic measures to contain the disease. Agriculture secretary Ann
Veneman announced last week that additional safeguards to bolster
US protection systems and further...
