DOWNER COW BLUES SENATORS WANT CRACKDOWN

DOWNER COW BLUES SENATORS WANT CRACKDOWN


Senators want crackdown on violations of downer cow prohibitions

Last Update: 5:12 pm


WASHINGTON (AP) - Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California have introduced a bill to stiffen penalties against slaughterhouses that illegally process cows too sick to stand.

The legislation comes in response to the scandal over a Southern California slaughterhouse that improperly allowed so-called downer cattle into the food supply, leading to a recall of 143 million pounds of beef. Downer cows pose higher risk of mad cow disease and other infections.

The bill would let the Agriculture Department impose a fine for a first violation, a one-year suspension for a second violation and permanent shutdown for a third violation.

The legislation is also sponsored by Senators Ted Stevens of Alaska and Daniel Akaka of Hawaii.


http://www.fox6.com/news/state/story.aspx?content_id=ae9882e6-db32-485e-9c95-9adc899e9998




Panel grills meatpacking chief on beef recall at Chino plant

J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press

Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. President Steve Mendell, center, prepares to testify before a House subcommittee hearing on federal regulations for food and food safety.

Steve Mendell of closed Westland/ Hallmark company tells lawmakers, 'My system broke down.'

By Nicole Gaouette, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

March 13, 2008

WASHINGTON -- The president of the Chino meatpacking plant that triggered the largest beef recall in U.S. history admitted Wednesday that crippled cows, which are more likely to carry disease, probably entered the food supply at his company.

"Obviously my system broke down," said Steve Mendell, president of Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., once a major supplier to the school lunch program.

Mendell initially told a House oversight subcommittee that "downer" cows at his plant "were not slaughtered, ground or sold."

But after lawmakers screened a graphic undercover video that showed ailing cows being jabbed with electric prods, beaten and rolled with forklifts toward slaughter, Mendell acknowledged that the four-minute clip did indeed show that at least two cows were processed into food.

Dressed soberly in black, Mendell, of Newport Beach, was flushed but composed, apologetic and insistent that the meat at his plant was safe for consumption. He told lawmakers that he had received death threats, that his family and employees had suffered, and that his company "is ruined" and would not reopen.

"My whole life is up in smoke," he said.

After watching a video of his plant taken by an undercover investigator from the Humane Society of the United States, Mendell briefly bowed his head and shut his eyes.

"Would you consume meat from a cow slaughtered that way?" asked Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.).

"No," Mendell said.

The hearing by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee touched on multiple failures in the nation's food safety system, not only within Mendell's firm but also by independent auditors, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's on-site investigators responsible for monitoring Westland/Hallmark.

"There is a serious problem with our food safety system," said Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

Stupak noted that since his subcommittee began investigating the FDA's ability to protect the nation's food supply 14 months ago there have been at least 163 recalls and health alerts tied to FDA-regulated products. Since 2007, Stupak added, there have been 67 meat recalls totaling about 180 million pounds.

Practices at the Westland/Hallmark plant led the USDA to announce the recall of 143 million pounds of meat, 50 million of which had been sent to school lunch programs. About 20 million pounds of the school-bound meat has already been consumed.

Mendell, who ignored an initial summons to appear before the committee in February, was issued a subpoena to appear Wednesday. He arrived with one of Washington's most high-profile lawyers, Asa Hutchinson, a former congressman and former member of the Bush administration whom Mendell hired Friday.

Democrats and Republicans, who have spent most of this Congress bickering with each other, ganged up on the Westland/Hallmark president.

"There's an easy way and a hard way to answer questions from this committee," Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) warned Mendell. "Either way, we'll find out what we want to know."

Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-Texas) added his own word of caution: "There's no daylight between Republicans and Democrats on this issue."

Action against Westland/Hallmark began when the Humane Society released video filmed by an investigator Jan. 30. Five on-site USDA inspectors had failed to notice anything wrong.

The plant, which slaughtered about 500 cattle a day, shut operations Feb. 4. After the Humane Society provided video evidence that downer cows were being slaughtered, Westland/Hallmark voluntarily recalled the beef Feb. 17.

Downer cows have been banned from entering the food supply since 2004, but the USDA has made an exception for cows that were inspected after they fell and seemed only to have external injuries. The Westland/Hallmark cows were not being inspected.

Page 2 of 2

Ailing cows are at greater risk of carrying E. coli, salmonella bacteria and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a fatal neurological disorder known as mad cow disease.

Rep. Edward Whitfield (R-Ky.) grimaced as he watched the video, which at one point showed a downer cow being "waterboarded" by a worker who directed a hose of water into the animal's nostrils. Whitfield suggested to Mendell that the USDA should ban the slaughter of any downer cows. But Mendell contended that those situations should be judged on a case-by-case basis and pointed out that companies lost money on any cow that was euthanized.

Mendell told lawmakers that he wished he had installed cameras in the plant after a 2005 citation for inhumane treatment of animals. Instead, he said, he improved training, instituting monthly sessions of about an hour to an hour and a half.

Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R-Texas), who noticed Spanish-speaking workers in the video, asked whether Mendell might have had a language problem, but Mendell responded that the supervisors were bilingual.

Mendell produced records that showed that the Humane Society investigator was trained. But in an interview, Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle said the investigator never received training. Pacelle said the Humane Society would not reveal the identity of the investigator because he would continue to do similar work, but described him as a committed vegan.

Mendell pointed to 17 external audits and a dozen internal ones last year that showed his plant's practices were exemplary, but lawmakers were unimpressed.

"So many audits, what went wrong?" countered Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.). "There's something wrong in all these reviews, there's something wrong . . . in the corporate culture. We have to figure out why you had so many reviews, and then the Humane Society does its undercover, and voila."

Even if downer cows had been slaughtered, Mendell stressed, the processed meat would still be all right as later inspections screened out any "specified risk materials" that might lead to mad cow disease.

"There's less than a minute chance of that material being contaminated," he said.

Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) told Mendell that there were children in his district who had consumed Westland/Hallmark meat. He noted that it could take more than a decade before mad cow disease is detected in humans.

"In 13 years, you're not going to be around," Green said. "That's my concern and the concern of this Congress."

nicole.gaouette@latimes.com



http://www.latimes.com/business/la-na-hallmark13mar13,1,5872989.story



http://www.latimes.com/business/la-na-hallmark13mar13,0,4930134.story?page=2&track=ntothtml



tip of the iceberg.

what went wrong ???

they call it, kaaching $$$

Web posted Wednesday, February 18, 1998 2:02 p.m. CT

Graphic pictures greet Winfrey jury

By KAY LEDBETTER Globe-News Farm and Ranch Editor

Pictures of sheep heads, euthanized pets and roadkill greeted jurors this morning as they returned to the continuation of the cattlemen vs. Oprah Winfrey lawsuit.

The lawsuit continues today in U.S. District Mary Lou Robinson's court, but in a much diminished state.

snip...

Defense lawyer Charles Babcock called Van Smith, a City Paper reporter from Baltimore who had written an article on rendering plants in September 1995.

Smith and Babcock went through more than 50 pictures taken as the reporter toured the Valley Proteins plant in Baltimore and followed a rendering truck to the local animal shelter, a sausage plant and a slaughterhouse.

The pictures showed offal being emptied from the slaughterhouses. They showed animal shelter workers in the euthanasia room; barrels of dead animals in a refrigerated room at the animal shelter; waste meat from the sausage plant; and dead sheep from the slaughterhouse.

Web posted Friday, January 23, 1998 5:49 a.m. CT

TSS

Witness testifies some ill cattle sent to rendering plant

By CHIP CHANDLER Globe-News Staff Writer

snip...

Mike Engler -- son of Paul Engler, the original plaintiff and owner of Cactus Feeders Inc. -- agreed that more than 10 cows with some sort of central nervous system disorder were sent to Hereford By-Products.

The younger Engler, who has a doctorate in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins University, was the only witness jurors heard Thursday in the Oprah Winfrey defamation trial. His testimony will resume this morning.

According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report from which Winfrey attorney Charles Babcock quoted, encephalitis caused by unknown reasons could be a warning sign for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

Encephalitis was indicated on the death certificates -- or ``dead slips'' -- of three Cactus Feeders cows discussed in court. The slips then were stamped, ``Picked up by your local used cattle dealer'' before the carcasses were taken to the rendering plant.

snip...

http://www.amarillonet.com/


USDA CERTIFIED NON-AMBULATORY DOWNER COW SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2008/02/beef-recall-nationwide-school-lunch.html


Specified Risk Material SRM

On January 18, 2002, FDA's New Orleans District Office issued a Warning Letter to J. Randall Mayes, Pulaski, Tennessee, a dairy farmer. An FDA inspection conducted November 26 28, 2001, confirmed that the farmer sold a cow for use as human food containing gentamicin residues. USDA analysis of tissue samples from the cow sold by Mayes identified the presence of 7.12 ppm of gentamicin in the kidney tissue. There is no established tolerance for gentamicin in cattle. In addition, FDA's investigation found that the dairy farmer held animals under conditions which were so inadequate that diseased animals and/or medicated animals bearing potentially harmful drug residues were likely to enter the food supply.


http://www.fda.gov/ora/about/enf_story/archive/2002/ch5/cvm1.htm


The Warning Letter also noted that the owner holds animals under conditions which are so inadequate that diseased animals and/or medicated animals bearing potentially harmful drug residues are likely to enter the food supply.


http://www.fda.gov/ora/about/enf_story/archive/2001/ch5/default.htm


Mr. Sturm was found to hold animals on his farm under conditions that are so inadequate that diseased animals and/or medicated animals bearing potentially harmful drug residues are likely to enter the food supply. In addition, he failed to use the drug, Albon, containing sulfadimethoxine, in conformance with the labeling.

A warning letter was issued to the following firms for violations related to 21 CFR Part 589.2000-Animal Proteins Prohibited in Ruminant Feed. This regulation is intended to prevent the establishment and amplification of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).

. Scott Nelson, Owner, Integra Fish Foods, Inc., Grand Junction, CO

. Bruce A. Burgett, General Manager, The Carrollton Farmers Exchange, Carrollton, OH

Violations included failure to label feeds that contain, or may contain, prohibited materials with the required cautionary statement "Do Not Feed to Cattle or Other Ruminants," insufficient customer records to track the distribution of products, and lack of written procedures for cleaning or flushing equipment after mixing feeds containing prohibited material.

http://www.fda.gov/cvm/Sep_Oct01.htm

Mr. Van Dam was found to hold animals under improper conditions whereby diseased animals and/or medicated animals bearing potentially harmful drug residues are likely to enter the food supply.

Ms. Silveira was found to be adulterating the drug Mutual Pharmaceutical brand of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim tablets, since she did not follow her veterinarian's prescribed withdrawal time of thirty days prior to slaughter.

Mr. Edwards did not properly identify treated animals to assure they are not sold for slaughter, did not maintain treatment records, and he did not follow labeling directions for medicated feed.

O & L Dairy was found to lack an adequate system for determining the medication status of animals offered for slaughter, and for assuring that animals which had been medicated had been withheld from slaughter for the appropriate periods of time to deplete potentially hazardous residues of drugs.

Mr. Sturm was found to hold animals on his farm under conditions that are so inadequate that diseased animals and/or medicated animals bearing potentially harmful drug residues are likely to enter the food supply. In addition, he failed to use the drug, Albon, containing sulfadimethoxine, in conformance with the labeling.

A warning letter was issued to the following firms for violations related to 21 CFR Part 589.2000-Animal Proteins Prohibited in Ruminant Feed. This regulation is intended to prevent the establishment and amplification of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).

. Scott Nelson, Owner, Integra Fish Foods, Inc., Grand Junction, CO

. Bruce A. Burgett, General Manager, The Carrollton Farmers Exchange, Carrollton, OH

Violations included failure to label feeds that contain, or may contain, prohibited materials with the required cautionary statement "Do Not Feed to Cattle or Other Ruminants," insufficient customer records to track the distribution of products, and lack of written procedures for cleaning or flushing equipment after mixing feeds containing prohibited material.

http://www.fda.gov/cvm/Sep_Oct.htm

Our investigation also found that you hold animals on your farm under conditions that are so inadequate that diseased animals and/or medicated animals bearing potentially harmful drug residues are likely to enter the food supply. For example, you failed to maintain treatment records for bull calves fed medicated milk replacer, lack a system for assuring that the milk replacer is used in a manner not contrary to label instructions, and lack a system for assuring the medicated animals have been withheld from slaughter for appropriate periods of time to permit depletion of potentially hazardous drug residues from edible tissues. Foods from animals held under such conditions are adulterated under Section 402(a)(4) of the Act [21 U.S.C. Section 342(a)(4)].

http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/archive/awl2.htm


Our investigation also found that you hold animals on your farm under conditions that are so inadequate that diseased animals and lormedicated animals bearing potentially harmful drug residues are likely to enter the food supply. For example, you lack a system for assuring that drugs are used in a manner not contrary to label instructions, and for assuring animals medicated on your farrn have been withheld from slaughter for appropriate periods of time to permit depletion of potentially hazardous drug residues from edible tissues. Foods from animals held under such conditions are adulterated under Section 402(a)(4) of the Act.

http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/archive/awl6.htm


Our investigation also found that you hold animals which are ultimately offered for slaughter as food, under conditions which are so inadequate that diseased animals and/or medicated animals bearing potentially harmful drug residues are likely to enter the food supply.

John Weststeyn 2 T & J Dairy

http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/archive/awl130.pdf


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Statement May 4, 2004 Media Inquiries: 301-827-6242 Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA

Statement on Texas Cow With Central Nervous System Symptoms On Friday, April 30 th , the Food and Drug Administration learned that a cow with central nervous system symptoms had been killed and shipped to a processor for rendering into animal protein for use in animal feed.

FDA, which is responsible for the safety of animal feed, immediately began an investigation. On Friday and throughout the weekend, FDA investigators inspected the slaughterhouse, the rendering facility, the farm where the animal came from, and the processor that initially received the cow from the slaughterhouse.

FDA's investigation showed that the animal in question had already been rendered into "meat and bone meal" (a type of protein animal feed). Over the weekend FDA was able to track down all the implicated material. That material is being held by the firm, which is cooperating fully with FDA.

Cattle with central nervous system symptoms are of particular interest because cattle with bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE, also known as "mad cow disease," can exhibit such symptoms. In this case, there is no way now to test for BSE. But even if the cow had BSE, FDA's animal feed rule would prohibit the feeding of its rendered protein to other ruminant animals (e.g., cows, goats, sheep, bison).

FDA is sending a letter to the firm summarizing its findings and informing the firm that FDA will not object to use of this material in swine feed only. If it is not used in swine feed, this material will be destroyed. Pigs have been shown not to be susceptible to BSE. If the firm agrees to use the material for swine feed only, FDA will track the material all the way through the supply chain from the processor to the farm to ensure that the feed is properly monitored and used only as feed for pigs.


http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2004/NEW01061.html


10,000,000+ LBS. of PROHIBITED BANNED MAD COW FEED I.E. MBM IN COMMERCE USA 2007

Date: March 21, 2007 at 2:27 pm PST

RECALLS AND FIELD CORRECTIONS: VETERINARY MEDICINES -- CLASS II

___________________________________

PRODUCT

Bulk cattle feed made with recalled Darling's 85% Blood Meal, Flash Dried, Recall # V-024-2007

CODE

Cattle feed delivered between 01/12/2007 and 01/26/2007

RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER

Pfeiffer, Arno, Inc, Greenbush, WI. by conversation on February 5, 2007.

Firm initiated recall is ongoing.

REASON

Blood meal used to make cattle feed was recalled because it was cross-contaminated with prohibited bovine meat and bone meal that had been manufactured on common equipment and labeling did not bear cautionary BSE statement.

VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE

42,090 lbs.

DISTRIBUTION

WI

___________________________________

PRODUCT

Custom dairy premix products: MNM ALL PURPOSE Pellet, HILLSIDE/CDL Prot-Buffer Meal, LEE, M.-CLOSE UP PX Pellet, HIGH DESERT/ GHC LACT Meal, TATARKA, M CUST PROT Meal, SUNRIDGE/CDL PROTEIN Blend, LOURENZO, K PVM DAIRY Meal, DOUBLE B DAIRY/GHC LAC Mineral, WEST PIONT/GHC CLOSEUP Mineral, WEST POINT/GHC LACT Meal, JENKS, J/COMPASS PROTEIN Meal, COPPINI - 8# SPECIAL DAIRY Mix, GULICK, L-LACT Meal (Bulk), TRIPLE J - PROTEIN/LACTATION, ROCK CREEK/GHC MILK Mineral, BETTENCOURT/GHC S.SIDE MK-MN, BETTENCOURT #1/GHC MILK MINR, V&C DAIRY/GHC LACT Meal, VEENSTRA, F/GHC LACT Meal, SMUTNY, A-BYPASS ML W/SMARTA, Recall # V-025-2007

CODE

The firm does not utilize a code - only shipping documentation with commodity and weights identified.

RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER

Rangen, Inc, Buhl, ID, by letters on February 13 and 14, 2007. Firm initiated recall is complete.

REASON

Products manufactured from bulk feed containing blood meal that was cross contaminated with prohibited meat and bone meal and the labeling did not bear cautionary BSE statement.

VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE

9,997,976 lbs.

DISTRIBUTION

ID and NV

END OF ENFORCEMENT REPORT FOR MARCH 21, 2007





http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/EnforcementReports/2007/ucm120446.htm





Subject: MAD COW FEED RECALL USA SEPT 6, 2006 1961.72 TONS IN COMMERCE AL, TN, AND WV

Date: September 6, 2006 at 7:58 am PST

PRODUCT

a) EVSRC Custom dairy feed, Recall # V-130-6;

snip...

PLEASE SEE FULL TEXT AND LONG LAUNDRY LIST OF MAD COW PROTEIN AND SRM ''IN COMMERCE'' ;

snip...

(PLEASE NOTE, .005 grams of TSE tainted mad cow feed is lethal enough to kill a cow. ...tss)

SEE SRMS


http://madcowspontaneousnot.blogspot.com/2008/02/specified-risk-materials-srm.html



USDA CERTIFIED H-BASE MAD COW SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM


http://cjdmadcowbaseoct2007.blogspot.com/2008/02/usda-certified-h-base-mad-cow-school.html



Sunday, February 17, 2008

Release No. 0046.08 Statement by Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer Regarding Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company Two Year Product Recall

Release No. 0046.08

Contact:

USDA Press Office (202) 720-4623


http://cjdmadcowbaseoct2007.blogspot.com/2008/02/release-no-004608-statement-by.html


Thursday, February 21, 2008

TRANSCRIPT: Technical Briefing - Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company - (02/21/08)

Release No. 0054.08


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2008/02/transcript-technical-briefing.html


Geographical BSE Risk (GBR) assessments covering 2000-2006

Date : 01.08.2006


http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/Scientific_Document/GBR_assessments_table_Overview_assessed_countries_2002-2006.pdf


In this context, a word is in order about the US testing program. After the discovery of the first (imported) cow in 2003, the magnitude of testing was much increased, reaching a level of >400,000 tests in 2005 (Figure 4). Neither of the 2 more recently indigenously infected older animals with nonspecific clinical features would have been detected without such testing, and neither would have been identified as atypical without confirmatory Western blots. Despite these facts, surveillance has now been decimated to 40,000 annual tests (USDA news release no. 0255.06, July 20, 2006) and invites the accusation that the United States will never know the true status of its involvement with BSE.


http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no12/06-0965.htm


From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. [flounder9@verizon.net] Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2005 6:17 PM To: fsis.regulationscomments@fsis.usda.gov

Subject: [Docket No. 03-025IFA] FSIS Prohibition of the Use of Specified Risk Materials for Human Food and Requirements for the Disposition of Non-Ambulatory Disabled Cattle

Greetings FSIS,

I would kindly like to submit the following to [Docket No. 03-025IFA] FSIS Prohibition of the Use of Specified Risk Materials for Human Food and Requirements for the Disposition of Non-Ambulatory Disabled Cattle

THE BSE/TSE SUB CLINICAL

Non-Ambulatory Disabled Cattle Broken bones and such may be the first signs of a sub clinical BSE/TSE Non-Ambulatory Disabled Cattle ;

SUB CLINICAL PRION INFECTION MRC-43-00 Issued: Monday, 28 August 2000

NEW EVIDENCE OF SUB-CLINICAL PRION INFECTION: IMPORTANT RESEARCH FINDINGS RELEVANT TO CJD AND BSE

A team of researchers led by Professor John Collinge at the Medical Research Council Prion Unit1 report today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, on new evidence for the existence of a sub-clinical form of BSE in mice which was unknown until now. The scientists took a closer look at what is known as the species barrier - the main protective factor which limits the ability of prions2 to jump from one species to infect another. They found the mice had a sub-clinical form of disease where they carried high levels of infectivity but did not develop the clinical disease during their normal lifespan. The idea that individuals can carry a disease and show no clinical symptoms is not new. It is commonly seen in conventional infectious diseases. Researchers tried to infect laboratory mice with hamster prions3 called Sc237 and found that the mice showed no apparent signs of disease. However, on closer inspection they found that the mice had high levels of mouse prions in their brains. This was surprising because it has always been assumed that hamster prions could not cause the disease in mice, even when injected directly into the brain. In addition the researchers showed that this new sub-clinical infection could be easily passed on when injected into healthy mice and hamsters. The height of the species barrier varies widely between different combinations of animals and also varies with the type or strain of prions. While some barriers are quite small (for instance BSE easily infects mice), other combinations of strain and species show a seemingly impenetrable barrier. Traditionally, the particular barrier studied here was assumed to be robust. Professor John Collinge said: "These results have a number of important implications. They suggest that we should re-think how we measure species barriers in the laboratory, and that we should not assume that just because one species appears resistant to a strain of prions they have been exposed to, that they do not silently carry the infection.

This research raises the possibility, which has been mentioned before, that apparently healthy cattle could harbour, but never show signs of, BSE. "This is a timely and unexpected result, increasing what we know about prion disease. These new findings have important implications for those researching prion disease, those responsible for preventing infected material getting into the food chain and for those considering how best to safeguard health and reduce the risk that theoretically, prion disease could be contracted through medical and surgical procedures."

ISSUED FRIDAY 25 AUGUST UNDER EMBARGO. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE EMBARGO IS SET BY THE JOURNAL.


http://www.mrc.ac.uk/index/public_interest/public-press_office/public-press_releases_2000/public-mrc-43-00.htm


full text ;

9/13/2005


http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/Comments/03-025IFA/03-025IFA-2.pdf


[Docket No. FSIS-2006-0011] FSIS Harvard Risk Assessment of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)


http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/Comments/2006-0011/2006-0011-1.pdf


SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM FROM DOWNER CATTLE UPDATE


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/



Beef - Westland/Hallmark Recall OF BEEF WITH DEADSTOCK DOWNER COWS, THE MOST HIGH RISK CATTLE FOR BSE/TSE AKA MAD COW DISEASE


Additional Products Listing 5-20-08



http://www.cdph.ca.gov/pubsforms/Documents/fdb%20eru%20Hmrk%20Addl%20Prod052008.pdf




http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HEALTHINFO/Pages/FDB%20Beef-WestlandHallmarkRecall.aspx



TOTAL DISTRIBUTION LIST



http://www.cdph.ca.gov/pubsforms/Documents/fdb%20eru%20Hmrk%20All%20Dist042008.pdf



ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS CONTAINING RECALLED BEEF



http://www.cdph.ca.gov/pubsforms/Documents/fdb%20eru%20Hmrk%20Addl%20Prod052008.pdf




SEE FULL LIST OF ALL RECALLED SUSPECT DEAD STOCK DOWNER COW PRODUCTS HERE ;



http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HEALTHINFO/Pages/FDB%20Beef-WestlandHallmarkRecall.aspx




>>>In the papers, the government alleges the meatpacking plant slaughtered and processed downer cows for nearly four years — from January 2004 to September 2007 — <<<



>> 95%) downer or dead dairy cattle and a few horses. Sheep had never been fed.





We believe that these findings may indicate the presence of a previously unrecognized scrapie-like disease in cattle and wish to alert dairy practitioners to this possibility.

snip...

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTH ANNUAL WESTERN CONFERENCE FOR FOOD ANIMAL VETERINARY MEDICINE, University of Arizona, March 17-19, 1986




http://web.archive.org/web/20030331063559/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m09a/tab01.pdf






http://web.archive.org/web/20030516051623/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m09/tab05.pdf





IN CONFIDENCE

PERCEPTIONS OF UNCONVENTIONAL SLOW VIRUS DISEASES OF ANIMALS IN THE USA




http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080102193705/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m11b/tab01.pdf






http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2009/09/suit-meatpacker-used-downer-cows-for-4.html




"The alleged misrepresentations by Hallmark and Westland could have impacted the health of many of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens--our schoolchildren," said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. "Our intervention in this case demonstrates how seriously we will pursue allegations such as these."



http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2009/05/us-government-sues-westlandhallmark.html





TSS