Whole Food And More: Have Our Kids Eaten Beef From The "Downer" Cows?

I've followed the reports and posted about the recall of 143 million pounds of beef that was possibly contaminated with mad cow disease.

I still can't believe this beef was sent to our kid's schools but even more disturbing is the fact that the USDA has decided that it's okay for children and consumer to eat that beef as long as it is mixed with beef from other cows.

This startling decision appeared in a USDA memo reported in the Wall Street Journal, which stated:
"If a processor or grinder has records demonstrating that products were produced using less than 100% of recalled Westland meat for the meat component, then there is no need...to retrieve that 'commingled' product."

What? We can feed our kids beef from "downer" cows if it's added to so called healthy cow's beef? How does this process make it safer to eat? I don't think so! The USDA isn't really interested in consumer safety. That's why they've issued this statement that means a meat packing company can use 99% of its beef from mad cow disease "downer" cows, and 1% of its beef from healthy cows, and it's all declared "safe" by the USDA with no need to recall the beef.

The statement from the USDA reveals that the agency believes the recalled beef is so dangerous that nobody should eat it, but it's safe enough to eat alongside beef from other cows. This is statement makes me scared and angry. Don't they care about public safety?

If the meat is potentially contaminated with mad cow disease (which is the whole reason why it was recalled in the first place), then mixing mad cow disease-contaminated meat with non-contaminated meat does not reduce the potential danger of the "commingled" meat in any way whatsoever.

The recall came three weeks after the Humane Society of the United States released videotapes from an undercover investigation showing Hallmark/Westland workers using a variety of abusive techniques to force sick and injured cattle into the slaughterhouse so they could be processed into food.

USDA plans to begin listing retailers later this year, but critics want quicker action on the plan in order to protect consumers.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Schafer asking the department to issue an emergency rule listing the retailers and school districts that received products tied to the Hallmark/Westland recall.

"No clear information has been made available on the products involved and this has resulted in consumer confusion about whether they, or their local school district, purchased products subject to the recall," said DeLauro, who chided the USDA for protecting the industry at the expense of the public's health.

Much like the FDA, the USDA is primarily focused on protecting the profits of the industry it claims to regulate. What's important to the USDA is promoting beef, not protecting the public, and that's exactly why you also see these intentional delays in the USDA issuing beef recalls.

These delays are specifically designed to limit the financial losses associated with beef recalls by making sure most of the meat is already eaten by consumers before the recall is issued.

What started as animal cruelty has turned into Americans building distrust of the USDA and the decisions they have made. When our kids health is put below industry profits everything is wrong with the picture.