Congress to Sample School Lunches

Congress to Sample School Lunches

12/16/2009 9:41:00 AM

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will serve a sampling of traditional school lunch menu items to members of Congress next week to illustrate improvements its has made in the nutritional quality and taste of the $1.2 billion in school commodity foods and as well as win support to boost funding to continue reworking menus, reported the Washington Post.

http://www.foodproductdesign.com/news/2009/12/congress-to-sample-school-lunches.aspx


USDA will offer lawmakers a sampling of school lunches Agency seeks boost in funding to continue reworking menus

By Jane Black Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, December 11, 2009

Chicken fajita strips, sliced ham and canned green beans: That's what's for lunch one day next week for some lawmakers and congressional staffers, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The menu offers the same products, known as commodity foods, that the agency provides every day to public schools across the nation.

The goal of next week's tasting is to show lawmakers the improvements the department has made in the nutritional quality -- and taste -- of the $1.2 billion in school commodity foods and to win support to fund further improvements. With one-third of American children overweight or obese, the USDA has been working to cut salt and fat and provide more fruits and vegetables.

"These guys are moving in the right direction," said Tony Geraci, food service director for Baltimore City public schools and a pioneer for healthful foods in schools. "Is it fixed? Hell, no. But at least now we're having conversations about this. Before, it was straight-up stonewalling."

The tasting is also an attempt to rehabilitate the reputation of the commodity foods program, which provides 15 to 20 percent of the food served in U.S. school cafeterias. Officially called USDA Foods, the program has long been perceived as a conflict of interest in the department's mission: to support American farmers and ranchers while overseeing nutrition programs for low-income families and schoolchildren.

Is the program a way to distribute meats, cheeses and other commodities that couldn't find a buyer on the open market? Or is the department really making choices based on public health?

Improving the quality of food provided free to schools is important at a time when school budgets are being squeezed. President Obama has proposed an additional $1 billion for child nutrition programs, including school lunch, in his 2010 budget.

But in the face of a projected federal deficit of $1.3 trillion , even the strongest supporters of school-lunch reform say that Congress is unlikely to approve a substantial funding increase when it takes up the issue next year.

To prepare for the Capitol Hill debut next week, the USDA offered samples to Secretary Tom Vilsack, who tried more than a dozen products, including canned green beans, apple slices and hamburger patties.

On paper, anyway, the green beans looked good. They are formulated to meet USDA specifications and have 64 percent less sodium than commercially available canned beans. For the 2010 school year, the agency has mandated that canned vegetables have no more than 140 milligrams of sodium per serving, 71 percent fewer than in the Food and Drug Administration's "healthy" standard.

The hamburger patties, developed for a pilot program last year to help fight childhood obesity, were 95 percent lean. The most similar commercial beef patty available is 92 percent lean.

The USDA offers more than 180 fresh and processed foods to schools, up from 54 in 1981. The products are provided to schools free, based on the number of students eligible for government assistance. Schools buy the rest of their ingredients from commercial suppliers.

School food directors say the quality of available commodities is excellent -- if schools choose wisely. The USDA offers high-quality dried fruits, nuts, brown rice, legumes and unprocessed meat, among other things.

Last month, the USDA announced that as part of the bonus commodity program, which is part of the commodity foods program and allows the agency to buy surplus food to help support prices for farmers, it would make available $33 million worth of apples, tart cherries and dried plums to schools and other programs. Some of the cherries will be processed into cherry-apple juice, with no artificial colors, flavors or sweeteners, for schools.

At least one challenge remains: persuading schools to embrace the more healthful options. Many schools lack kitchens and are at most capable of reheating prepared items. And many school food service directors do not have nutrition or culinary training.

They also know that they can sell more trays of greasy pizza and french fries to students than fruits and vegetables, a tactic that helps keep tight budgets in line. As food service director Geraci said: "If you have 20,000 lunch ladies that just want to open up a box of chicken nuggets, they're going to keep making them."

To encourage more healthful choices, the USDA is awaiting help from Congress when it takes up the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act next year. As part of the legislation, lawmakers are considering a measure that would allow the department to set strict standards for all food sold in schools, including vending machine fare. They are also considering how much new money to allocate to the $12 billion annual program.

Vilsack said he hopes Congress will make more money available.

"The nutritional value of these foods is going to be a little bit more expensive," said Vilsack, who said that he expects costs will rise as more students are granted access to free or reduced-price meals. "We've been making progress on the food safety side and on the nutrition side. But to take the next steps, it's going to require more resources."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/10/AR2009121001956.html



>>>To prepare for the Capitol Hill debut next week, the USDA offered samples to Secretary Tom Vilsack, <<<


>>>who tried more than a dozen products, including canned green beans, apple slices and hamburger patties. <<<



Greetings,

Holy mad cow, this will be just like those token slaughter house inspections and such they do for Japan, Korea, and the other trading partners. Tell them way in advance, and then serve em up the best. Give me a break. I wonder if some of those Congressman/woman were served up some dead stock downer cows, the most high risk cattle for mad cow disease, and other dangerous pathogens, like our children were for 4+ years, via the NSLP ? This should have NEVER happened. No, we must not let them forget. They refuse to speak of it, and I can't forget. It must not happen again. Hopefully, all this is not just hot air coming out of Washington, and indeed Congress plans on cleaning house. I have seen this hot air before, time and time again, and in the end, nothing but hot air. Case in point, the mad cow feed ban of August 4, 1997, and the Surveillance for BSE and other TSE. Your only kidding yourself if you don't think these children were not exposed to high risk dead stock downers. it should never happen again. but they hid it under the guise, (the beef recall), the largest ever (at that time), they mask this beef recall as 'animal abuse'. I don't get it. How was this beef tainted by animal abuse? I don't condone animal abuse, but what about child abuse ? and who will watch our children for the next 5+ decades for CJD ? with our CJD human TSE surveillance system in the USA, even if they are detected (?), they will go down as sporadic, or some odd phenotype that is spontaneous or some odd TSE from nothing $

The PrP TSE mad cow agent in humans can incubate up to 50+ years in some cases, in other cases, not so long. so, come back in 50+ years and confirm this. junk science, industry friendly regulations, and or just not complying with existing regulations have been rampant over the past 12 years I have been paying attention, it has been the norm. maybe sound science will prevail in the end, maybe not. but feeding children diseased and sick cows via the NSLP was flat wrong, and anyone that thinks the largest beef recall there from, was just because a few animals were abused, well, they too are just flat wrong as well. ...

WHO WILL WATCH THE CHILDREN FOR CJD OVER THE NEXT 5 + DECADES ???

Do you actually believe that the USDA et al jumped in on the law suit against Westland/Hallmark, at the time the largest beef recall in USA history, just because a few animals were abused on a video, or to cover their ass, for letting our children, from school district to school district, from state to state, be fed dead stock downer cows.

>>> In the papers, the government alleges the meatpacking plant slaughtered and processed downer cows for nearly four years — from January 2004 to September 2007 — at the average rate of one every six weeks... <<<


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


Do you actually believe all these schools recalled this meat because of a few cattle being abused,

see list ;


FNS All Regions Affected School Food Authorities By State United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service National School Lunch Program March 24, 2008 School Food Authorities Affected by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. Beef Recall February 2006 - February 2008


http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/safety/Hallmark-Westland_byState.pdf


IF url does not work above, go to this link to find out if any of your children and their school were part of this recall ; go to this site ;


http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/


left hand corner search ; Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co.


Beef Recall your should get this ; http://65.216.150.153/texis/search?pr=FNS
1 through 1 of 1 matching documents, best matches first. sort by date 1: Hallmark - Westland SFA Reporting by State - 3-24-2008.xls Lunch Program March 24, 2008 School Food Authorities Affected by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. Beef Recall February 2006 - February 2008 The U.S. Department of Agriculture ...



http://www.fns.usda.gov/...ety/Hallmark-Westland_byState.pdf




PLEASE SEE ALSO ;



Members of The HSUS are also concerned about the meat products provided to their children through the National School Lunch Program. More than 31 million school children receive lunches through the program each school day. To assist states in providing healthful, low-cost or free meals, USDA provides states with various commodities including ground beef. As evidenced by the HallmarkNVestland investigation and recall, the potential for downed animals to make their way into the National School Lunch Program is neither speculative nor hypothetical.



http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/FDA/hsus-v-schafer-usda-complaint.pdf



Over the next 8-10 weeks, approximately 40% of all the adult mink on the farm died from TME. snip... The rancher was a ''dead stock'' feeder using mostly (>95%) downer or dead dairy cattle...


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


Friday, September 4, 2009

FOIA REQUEST ON FEED RECALL PRODUCT 429,128 lbs. feed for ruminant animals may have been contaminated with prohibited material Recall # V-258-2009


http://madcowfeed.blogspot.com/2009/09/foia-request-on-feed-recall-product.html


Saturday, August 29, 2009


FOIA REQUEST FEED RECALL 2009 Product may have contained prohibited materials Bulk Whole Barley, Recall # V-256-2009


http://madcowfeed.blogspot.com/2009/08/foia-request-feed-recall-2009-product.html


C O N F I R M E D


----- Original Message ----- From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr." To: Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 9:25 PM Subject: [BSE-L] re-FOIA REQUEST ON FEED RECALL PRODUCT contaminated with prohibited material Recall # V-258-2009 and Recall # V-256-2009

http://madcowfeed.blogspot.com/2009/11/re-foia-request-on-feed-recall-product.html


PLEASE be aware, for 4 years, the USDA fed our children all across the Nation dead stock downer cows, the most high risk cattle for BSE aka mad cow disease and other dangerous pathogens. who will watch our children for CJD for the next 5+ decades ???

SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM FROM DOWNER CATTLE UPDATE

http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2009/05/who-will-watch-children.html


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/


please see full text here ;


Tuesday, November 17, 2009

SEAC EFFECT OF AGE ON THE PATHOGENESIS OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES SEAC 103/2

http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2009/11/seac-effect-of-age-on-pathogenesis-of.html


Wednesday, November 18, 2009

R-CALF: 40 Groups Disagree With USDA's Latest BSE Court Submission

http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2009/11/r-calf-40-groups-disagree-with-usdas.html


Monday, October 19, 2009

Atypical BSE, BSE, and other human and animal TSE in North America Update October 19, 2009

http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2009/10/atypical-bse-bse-and-other-human-and.html


Sunday, September 6, 2009

MAD COW USA 1997 SECRET VIDEO

http://madcowusda.blogspot.com/2009/09/mad-cow-usa-1997-video.html


U.S.A. HIDING MAD COW DISEASE VICTIMS AS SPORADIC CJD ? see video at bottom

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2009/07/usa-hiding-mad-cow-disease-victims-as.html



DAMNING TESTIMONY FROM STANLEY PRUSINER THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER ON PRIONS SPEAKING ABOUT ANN VENEMAN see video

http://maddeer.org/video/embedded/prusinerclip.html


CVM Annual Report Fiscal Year 2008: October 1, 2007-September 30, 2008

PUTTING LIPSTICK ON A PIG AND TAKING HER TO A DANCE...TSS

BSE Feed Rule Enforcement: A Decade of Success OFF TO A FAST START

http://madcowfeed.blogspot.com/2008/06/texas-firm-recalls-cattle-heads-that.html



2009 UPDATE ON ALABAMA AND TEXAS MAD COWS 2005 and 2006


http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2006/08/bse-atypical-texas-and-alabama-update.html


Tuesday, December 1, 2009

IMPORTATION OF CANADIAN CATTLE, BISON, SHEEP, AND GOATS INTO THE UNITED STATES 12/1/09


http://usdameatexport.blogspot.com/2009/12/importation-of-canadian-cattle-bison.html


Monday, November 30, 2009

USDA AND OIE COLLABORATE TO EXCLUDE ATYPICAL SCRAPIE NOR-98 ANIMAL HEALTH CODE


http://nor-98.blogspot.com/2009/11/usda-and-oie-collaborate-to-exclude.html


Monday, November 23, 2009

BSE GBR RISK ASSESSMENTS UPDATE NOVEMBER 23, 2009 COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND O.I.E.


http://docket-aphis-2006-0041.blogspot.com/2009/11/bse-gbr-risk-assessments-update.html


Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Intraspecies transmission of L-type-like bovine spongiform encephalopathy detected in Japan


http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2009/12/intraspecies-transmission-of-l-type.html




*** Monday, December 14, 2009 R.I.P. MOM ***

Similarities between Forms of Sheep Scrapie and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Are Encoded by Distinct Prion Types


http://nor-98.blogspot.com/2009/12/similarities-between-forms-of-sheep.html



NAIS COOL BSE


http://naiscoolyes.blogspot.com/2009/12/nais-cool-from-farm-to-fork-mad-cow.html



Saturday, December 05, 2009

Molecular Model of Prion Transmission to Humans

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2009/12/molecular-model-of-prion-transmission.html


Thursday, November 05, 2009

Incidence and spectrum of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease variants with mixed phenotype and co-occurrence of PrPSc types: an updated classification

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2009/11/incidence-and-spectrum-of-sporadic.html


Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Characteristics of Established and Proposed Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Variants

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2009/08/characteristics-of-established-and.html


Sunday, August 09, 2009

CJD...Straight talk with...James Ironside...and...Terry Singeltary... 2009

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2009/08/cjdstraight-talk-withjames.html


Saturday, June 13, 2009

Monitoring the occurrence of emerging forms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the United States 2003 revisited 2009

http://cjdusa.blogspot.com/2009/06/monitoring-occurrence-of-emerging-forms.html


JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY

MARCH 26, 2003

Send Post-Publication Peer Review to journal:

Re: RE-Monitoring the occurrence of emerging forms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob

disease in the United States

Email Terry S. Singeltary:

flounder9@verizon.net

I lost my mother to hvCJD (Heidenhain Variant CJD). I would like to comment on the CDC's attempts to monitor the occurrence of emerging forms of CJD. Asante, Collinge et al [1] have reported that BSE transmission to the 129-methionine genotype can lead to an alternate phenotype that is indistinguishable from type 2 PrPSc, the commonest sporadic CJD. However, CJD and all human TSEs are not reportable nationally. CJD and all human TSEs must be made reportable in every state and internationally. I hope that the CDC does not continue to expect us to still believe that the 85%+ of all CJD cases which are sporadic are all spontaneous, without route/source. We have many TSEs in the USA in both animal and man. CWD in deer/elk is spreading rapidly and CWD does transmit to mink, ferret, cattle, and squirrel monkey by intracerebral inoculation. With the known incubation periods in other TSEs, oral transmission studies of CWD may take much longer. Every victim/family of CJD/TSEs should be asked about route and source of this agent. To prolong this will only spread the agent and needlessly expose others. In light of the findings of Asante and Collinge et al, there should be drastic measures to safeguard the medical and surgical arena from sporadic CJDs and all human TSEs. I only ponder how many sporadic CJDs in the USA are type 2 PrPSc?

http://www.neurology.org/cgi/eletters/60/2/176#535


LANCET INFECTIOUS DISEASE JOURNAL

Volume 3, Number 8 01 August 2003

Newsdesk

Tracking spongiform encephalopathies in North America

Xavier Bosch

My name is Terry S Singeltary Sr, and I live in Bacliff, Texas. I lost my mom to hvCJD (Heidenhain variant CJD) and have been searching for answers ever since. What I have found is that we have not been told the truth. CWD in deer and elk is a small portion of a much bigger problem.

49-year-old Singeltary is one of a number of people who have remained largely unsatisfied after being told that a close relative died from a rapidly progressive dementia compatible with spontaneous Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). So he decided to gather hundreds of documents on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) and realised that if Britons could get variant CJD from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), Americans might get a similar disorder from chronic wasting disease (CWD)the relative of mad cow disease seen among deer and elk in the USA. Although his feverish search did not lead him to the smoking gun linking CWD to a similar disease in North American people, it did uncover a largely disappointing situation.

Singeltary was greatly demoralised at the few attempts to monitor the occurrence of CJD and CWD in the USA. Only a few states have made CJD reportable. Human and animal TSEs should be reportable nationwide and internationally, he complained in a letter to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA 2003; 285: 733). I hope that the CDC does not continue to expect us to still believe that the 85% plus of all CJD cases which are sporadic are all spontaneous, without route or source.

Until recently, CWD was thought to be confined to the wild in a small region in Colorado. But since early 2002, it has been reported in other areas, including Wisconsin, South Dakota, and the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Indeed, the occurrence of CWD in states that were not endemic previously increased concern about a widespread outbreak and possible transmission to people and cattle.

To date, experimental studies have proven that the CWD agent can be transmitted to cattle by intracerebral inoculation and that it can cross the mucous membranes of the digestive tract to initiate infection in lymphoid tissue before invasion of the central nervous system. Yet the plausibility of CWD spreading to people has remained elusive.

Part of the problem seems to stem from the US surveillance system. CJD is only reported in those areas known to be endemic foci of CWD. Moreover, US authorities have been criticised for not having performed enough prionic tests in farm deer and elk.

Although in November last year the US Food and Drug Administration issued a directive to state public-health and agriculture officials prohibiting material from CWD-positive animals from being used as an ingredient in feed for any animal species, epidemiological control and research in the USA has been quite different from the situation in the

UK and Europe regarding BSE.

Getting data on TSEs in the USA from the government is like pulling teeth, Singeltary argues. You get it when they want you to have it and only what they want you to have.Norman Foster, director of the Cognitive Disorders Clinic at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI, USA), says that current surveillance of prion disease in people in the USA is inadequate to detect whether CWD is occurring in human beings; adding that, the cases that we know about are reassuring, because they do not suggest the appearance of a new variant of CJD in the USA or atypical features in patients that might be exposed to CWD. However, until we establish a system that identifies and analyses a high proportion of suspected prion disease cases we will not know for sure. The USA should develop a system modelled on that established in the UK, he points out.

Ali Samii, a neurologist at Seattle VA Medical Center who recently reported the cases of three hunterstwo of whom were friendswho died from pathologically confirmed CJD, says that at present there are insufficient data to claim transmission of CWD into humans; adding that [only] by asking [the questions of venison consumption and deer/elk hunting] in every case can we collect suspect cases and look into the plausibility of transmission further. Samii argues that by making both doctors and hunters more aware of the possibility of prions spreading through eating venison, doctors treating hunters with dementia can consider a possible prion disease, and doctors treating CJD patients will know to ask whether they ate venison. CDC spokesman Ermias Belay says that the CDC will not be investigating the [Samii] cases because there is no evidence that the men ate CWD-infected meat. He notes that although the likelihood of CWD jumping the species barrier to infect humans cannot be ruled out 100% and that [we] cannot be 100% sure that CWD does not exist in humans & the data seeking evidence of CWD transmission to humans have been very limited.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473309903007151/%20fulltext


>>>he complained in a letter to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA 2003; 285: 733). 

I hope that the CDC does not continue to expect us to still believe that the 85% plus of all CJD cases which are sporadic are all spontaneous, without route or source.<<<

actually, that quote was from a more recent article in the Journal of Neurology (see below), not the JAMA article...

Diagnosis and Reporting of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Singeltary, Sr et al. JAMA.2001; 285: 733-734. Vol. 285 No. 6, February 14, 2001 JAMA Diagnosis and Reporting of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

To the Editor: In their Research Letter, Dr Gibbons and colleagues1 reported that the annual US death rate due to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) has been stable since 1985. These estimates, however, are based only on reported cases, and do not include misdiagnosed or preclinical cases. It seems to me that misdiagnosis alone would drastically change these figures. An unknown number of persons with a diagnosis of Alzheimer disease in fact may have CJD, although only a small number of these patients receive the postmortem examination necessary to make this diagnosis. Furthermore, only a few states have made CJD reportable. Human and animal transmissible spongiform encephalopathies should be reportable nationwide and internationally. Terry S. Singeltary, Sr Bacliff, Tex 1. Gibbons RV, Holman RC, Belay ED, Schonberger LB. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the United States: 1979-1998. JAMA. 2000;284:2322-2323.

FREE FULL TEXT

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/285/6/733?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=singeltary&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT


http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/285/6/733?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=singeltary&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT


Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Susceptibilities of Nonhuman Primates to Chronic Wasting Disease

snip...

From: TSS (216-119-163-189.ipset45.wt.net)

Subject: CWD aka MAD DEER/ELK TO HUMANS ???

Date: September 30, 2002 at 7:06 am PST

From: "Belay, Ermias"

To:

Cc: "Race, Richard (NIH)" ; ; "Belay,

Ermias"

Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 9:22 AM

Subject: RE: TO CDC AND NIH - PUB MED- 3 MORE DEATHS - CWD - YOUNG HUNTERS

Dear Sir/Madam,

In the Archives of Neurology you quoted (the abstract of which was attached to your email), we did not say CWD in humans will present like variant CJD.

That assumption would be wrong. I encourage you to read the whole article and call me if you have questions or need more clarification (phone: 404-639-3091). Also, we do not claim that "no-one has ever been infected with prion disease from eating venison." Our conclusion stating that we found no strong evidence of CWD transmission to humans in the article you quoted or in any other forum is limited to the patients we investigated.

Ermias Belay, M.D.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

-----Original Message-----

From:

Sent: Sunday, September 29, 2002 10:15 AM

To: rr26k@nih.gov; rrace@niaid.nih.gov; ebb8@CDC.GOV

Subject: TO CDC AND NIH - PUB MED- 3 MORE DEATHS - CWD - YOUNG

HUNTERS

Sunday, November 10, 2002 6:26 PM ......snip........end..............TSS

snip...

see full text ;


http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2009/08/susceptibilities-of-nonhuman-primates.html


http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/


2 January 2000

British Medical Journal

U.S. Scientist should be concerned with a CJD epidemic in the U.S., as well

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/320/7226/8/b#6117


15 November 1999

British Medical Journal

vCJD in the USA * BSE in U.S.

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/319/7220/1312/b#5406


THE PATHOLOGICAL PROTEIN

BY Philip Yam

Yam Philip Yam News Editor Scientific American http://www.sciam.com/

http://www.thepathologicalprotein.com/


SEE REVISITING SPORADIC CJD BY PHILIP YAM THE PATHOLOGICAL PROTEIN

Answering critics like Terry Singeltary, who feels that the U.S. undercounts CJD, Schonberger conceded that the current surveillance system has errors but stated that most of the errors will be confined to the older population. ...

http://books.google.com/books?id=ePbrQNFrHtoC&pg=PA224&lpg=PA224&dq=pathological+protein+philip+yam+singeltary&source=bl&ots=um-LytTT2E&sig=hQVJotGvhvffOsN2fsIDfk2SHXw&hl=en&ei=CaWBSrDLCIKUtgeg_eTVCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false


2008

The statistical incidence of CJD cases in the United States has been revised to reflect that there is one case per 9000 in adults age 55 and older. Eighty-five percent of the cases are sporadic, meaning there is no known cause at present.

http://www.cjdfoundation.org/fact.html


Friday, November 30, 2007

CJD QUESTIONNAIRE USA CWRU AND CJD FOUNDATION

http://cjdquestionnaire.blogspot.com/


Saturday, June 13, 2009

Monitoring the occurrence of emerging forms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the United States 2003 revisited 2009

http://cjdusa.blogspot.com/2009/06/monitoring-occurrence-of-emerging-forms.html


Terry S. Singeltary Sr., P.O. Box 42, Bacliff, Texas USA 77518

wasted days and wasted nights...Freddy Fender

stupid is, as stupid does...Forest Gump

Mr. Will Hueston DVM on school lunch program, downers, and mad cow disease 2004 and 2008

Mr. Will Hueston DVM on school lunch program, downers, and mad cow disease 2004 and 2008



A Case of Abuse, Heightened

NYTimes

By JOE NOCERA

Published: March 8, 2008

snip...

Governments all over the world quickly took note and began instituting a series of measures to ensure that B.S.E.-infected cattle would not infiltrate the food supply. The United States, for instance, ordered stepped-up inspections to root out B.S.E., instituted import controls and mandated rules to ensure that cattle brains and spinal cords did not wind up being ingested by cows as part of their feed.

“The challenge to controlling B.S.E. is to control the feed,” Mr. Hueston said. Indeed, he says, many scientists believe that even infected cows can be safely eaten so long as their brains and spinal cord have been removed. But as a matter of course, those parts are removed from every cow, and on the very rare occasion when B.S.E. is diagnosed in a cow, it is destroyed. In truth, the story of mad cow disease has been a public health triumph.

As for downer cows, in the scheme of things they pose a far smaller risk factor for mad cow disease than, say, cattle feed. Still, the government doesn’t want to take any chances, so its rules state that cattle arriving at the slaughterhouse in a “nonambulatory” fashion must be euthanized and their meat must not enter the food supply. There is, however, one exception — an exception that drives Mr. Pacelle crazy. If a cow arrives at the slaughterhouse on its feet and passes inspection and then goes down, it can be still be slaughtered — so long as a U.S.D.A. veterinarian reinspects the animal. ...


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/08/business/08nocera.html



Will Hueston, DVM, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Animal Health and Food Safety 2004 Mr. Hueston DVM claims ;

Senate wants to keep downed cattle out of food supply Robert Roos News Editor

Nov 10, 2003 (CIDRAP News) – In an effort to ensure that sick cattle are kept out of the food supply, the Senate last week approved a measure to bar the Department of Agriculture (USDA) from approving the use of "downed" animals for human consumption.

snip...

Cohen said nonambulatory cows can be approved for food use if they show no signs of illness, which can happen with injured animals. "A lot of them are older dairy cows that have either hip or leg injuries," he explained. "Sometimes they have accidental slips in transportation, and that's why a lot of our inspection takes place in the transport vehicle itself, so that the animal doesn't suffer when being moved."

Cohen couldn't say how many nonambulatory cattle turn up at slaughter plants each year or how many are used for food. The AP report said the USDA has estimated that 130,000 downed animals are slaughtered annually.

Akaka said it's not possible to distinguish BSE from many other diseases by simple inspection. "Consequently, BSE-infected cattle can be approved for human and animal consumption," he asserted.

Will Hueston, DVM, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Animal Health and Food Safety in St. Paul, agreed that BSE has no unique clinical signs that make it easily recognizable. Consquently, he said, there is a theoretical risk that a BSE-infected cow could end up food, though no BSE cases have been seen in the United States. "If we had BSE, an animal that [had the disease and] was unable to move because of a broken leg and showed no signs of disease, no fever or abnormal behavior, could enter the food chain," Hueston said.

He added, "I wouldn't go too far down that line, though," because the USDA's surveillance program for BSE focuses largely on downed cattle, which are among the cattle at highest risk. In fiscal year 2003 (which ended Sep 30), the agency's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) tested 20,277 cattle for BSE, including 16,560 downed cattle, according to information on the agency's Web site. The carcasses of tested animals are held until the test results are in.

In BSE-affected countries, high-risk tissues, including the brain and spinal cord, are removed from all adult cattle at the time of slaughter to guard against the risk of invisible BSE cases entering the food chain, Hueston noted. The abnormal prion proteins associated with BSE have not been found in muscle tissues used as meat.

Cattle that are condemned as unfit for human consumption are sent for rendering, in which the carcass is cooked to remove water and separate fat from protein, Hueston said. The fat and protein are used in pet food, feed for animals other than cattle or other ruminants, and various other products. As a precaution against BSE, material from ruminants cannot legally be fed to ruminants.

See also:

Sen. Akaka's news release


http://akaka.senate.gov/~akaka/releases/03/11/2003B06340.html



http://www.cidrapforum.org/cidrap/content/other/bse/news/nov1003cattle.html



Atlantic Monthly Article is on the Web

Atlantic Monthly article by Ellen Ruppel Shell on mad cow disease in USA

A few colorful quotes from a 13 page article: 'In fact, brain doesn't just enter our food chain but goes directly into the human food supply. Each year, according to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, which is charged with regulating the meat industry, about a million cow brains are sold for consumption in the United States, and others are exported. Generally these are whole brains taken from cows slaughtered in the kosher manner -- that is, their throats are cut while they are still conscious. Most cows in the United States, though, are shot in the head with a stun gun before having their throats cut, a process perhaps more humane but also, at least when a pneumatic stun gun that injects air is used, more likely to contaminate other parts of the carcass with brain. This pneumatic gun can crack the cow's skull, causing the brain to leak out. And the force of the gun is such that it can blow pieces of brain into the bloodstream, where they can be carried to the animal's lungs or liver. Tam Garland has recovered chunks of brain as large as six inches across in the lungs of slaughtered cattle. Canadian researchers have spotted pieces of brain about two and a half inches wide lodged in cow livers.'

'Will Hueston, a veterinary epidemiologist formerly with the USDA and now an associate dean at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, says that the agency has not imposed a ban on spinal column and brain in the rendering process because to do so would be very expensive and basically unenforceable. As one rendering-plant employee told me, "Who would want the job of cutting out all those spinal columns and brains? You couldn't even get occasional workers to do it." But when asked why brain and spinal column are not banned from the human food supply in the United States, Hueston was circumspect, suggesting that I speak with someone at the Food Safety and Inspection Service.'

'Jacque Knight, a spokeswoman for the FSIS, was vague and seemed annoyed when asked whether brain or spinal cord was getting directly into sausage or other processed meats. "Since the Meat Act of 1906 we have never prohibited brain or spinal cord," she said. "It is part of the animal. However, it is not something people expect to find in meat. Therefore, as of May of last year, we have told our inspectors that if they suspect brain or spinal cord of getting into meat, they should report it." The inspectors' union expressed concern that it would be difficult for its members, already bogged down in other duties, to take on this additional task. The agency employs 7,535 inspectors in 6,200 meat and poultry slaughtering and processing plants. To date fifty-four reports have been filed and five plants have been found in violation of the rule. '

'The Rocky Mountain Laboratories is an unassuming NIH outpost hunkered in the shadow of the magnificent snow-crested Bitterroot Mountains. Built on a residential street in Hamilton, Montana, the red-brick structure stands out like a Brooks Brothers suit on Casual Friday. The lab was set up by the state in 1928 to study Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a deadly tick-borne disease that plagued the region. The people of Hamilton were so nervous about ticks going AWOL from the lab that a moat -- really, a puddle-deep trench -- was dug around its perimeter. Over time the laboratory has branched out to consider a wide range of infectious diseases, and has attracted, among other notables, a world-renowned team of experts on TSE. One of these is Byron Caughey, a strapping, bearded biochemist who looks nothing like the poet whose name he shares.'


http://www.mad-cow.org/mad_sheep.html#aaa



http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/98sep/madcow.htm



Dr. Will Hueston, a University of Minnesota veterinarian and expert on public health communications, was cited as saying that new and emerging diseases require public officials to offer straight talk, adding, "You need to be candid and straight-forward -- and you need to be first. In the face of an emerging (disease) issue ... if authoritative sources of information do not step forward, then people will fill that void by anything they can. You end up following rumors." Hueston was further quoted as saying public officials often show "a natural tendency to over-reassure, that everything's all right. ... The more you try to assure people that everything is all right, they think there's something really bad you're not telling."


http://archives.foodsafety.ksu.edu/animalnet/2005/12-2005/AnimalNet%20Dec.%2014_05.eml.html#story0




NOW, some facts Will Hueston, DVM, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Animal Health and Food Safety fails to mention ;

J. Virol. doi:10.1128/JVI.02561-07 Copyright (c) 2008, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Evaluation of the Human Transmission Risk of an Atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Prion Strain

***These results suggest that, in humans, BASE is a more virulent BSE strain and likely lymphotropic.


http://jvi.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/JVI.02561-07v1?papetoc




USA MAD COW CASES IN ALABAMA AND TEXAS


***PLEASE NOTE***

USA BASE CASE, (ATYPICAL BSE), AND OR TSE (whatever they are calling it today), please note that both the ALABAMA COW, AND THE TEXAS COW, both were ''H-TYPE'', personal communication Detwiler et al Wednesday, August 22, 2007 11:52 PM. ...TSS




http://lists.iatp.org/listarchive/archive.cfm?listID=147&startrow=1081




2009 UPDATE ON ALABAMA AND TEXAS MAD COWS 2005 and 2006



http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2006/08/bse-atypical-texas-and-alabama-update.html



Monday, October 19, 2009


Atypical BSE, BSE, and other human and animal TSE in North America Update October 2009



http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2009/10/atypical-bse-bse-and-other-human-and.html



Wednesday, November 18, 2009


R-CALF: 40 Groups Disagree With USDA's Latest BSE Court Submission



http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2009/11/r-calf-40-groups-disagree-with-usdas.html





Monday, November 23, 2009

BSE GBR RISK ASSESSMENTS UPDATE NOVEMBER 23, 2009 COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND O.I.E.



http://docket-aphis-2006-0041.blogspot.com/2009/11/bse-gbr-risk-assessments-update.html






MARCH 2002

Livestock Mortalities:

Methods of Disposal and Their

Potential Costs

USDA/National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) estimates that in the year 2000,

approximately 4.1 million cattle died before they could be sent to slaughter (Table 2). Of these, 2.4 million were calves (under 500 lbs), with the balance of 1.7 million over 6 months of age (or, as reported, in excess of 500 lbs). ....END...TSS

NASS

Non-Ambulatory

Cattle and Calves

Released May 5, 2005, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department

of Agriculture. For information on Non-ambulatory Cattle and Calves call Mike Miller at 720-3040, office hours 7:30 a.m. to

4:30 p.m. ET.

Cattle and Calves: Non-Ambulatory Number,

by Region and United States, 2003-2004

ALL NON-AMBULATORY CATTLE 2003 = 465,000

ALL NON-AMBULATORY CATTLE 2004 = 450,000

SNIP...END...TSS

Non-Ambulatory

Cattle and Calves

Released May 5, 2005, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department

of Agriculture. For information on Non-ambulatory Cattle and Calves call Mike Miller at 720-3040, office hours 7:30 a.m. to

4:30 p.m. ET.

Non-Ambulatory Cattle and Calves

Non-ambulatory cattle and calves in the United States totaled 465,000 head during 2003 and

450,000 head during 2004. The number of non-ambulatory cattle 500 pounds or greater totaled

280,000 head in 2003 and 270,000 head in 2004. The number of calves under 500 pounds reported

as non-ambulatory totaled 185,000 head in 2003 and 180,000 head in 2004. ...SNIP...END

August 2004

04-021ANPR 04-021ANPR-68 N/A

An Economic and Environmental Assessment of Eliminating Specified Risk Materials and Cattle Mortalities from Existing Markets

snip...

USDA estimates 1.7 103 million cattle and 2.3656 million calves died prior to slaughter in 20022, for a. total species count of just under 4.1 million deaths. In 2001, USDA reported just over 4.2 million species deaths. The next step is to determine the number of nonambulatory cattle in the United States. No one knows the exact number; however, USDA estimates approximately 200,000 per year based on a survey conducted of American Association of Bovine Practitioners members3, bringing the estimated total number of dead and downer cattle and calves to about 4.3 - 4.4 million per year, roughly consistent with FDA’s estimate of 4.6 million.

USDA does, not regularly report cattle deaths by type, i.e. beef or diary, but it periodically conducts an industry survey to provide a detailed breakdown of the cattle and calf death losses by class, state and size group. From their most recent survey4 it is estimated that 69.4% of cattle deaths and 68,7% of calf deaths are from beef animals, with dairy animals accounting for the remaining 30.6% and 31.3% of cattle and calf deaths, respectively. Given the absence of updated data and little reason to expect these proportions have changed meaningfully over time, we apply these factors to the USDA total cattle and calf death loss estimates reported above to estimate current cattle and calf death loss in the beef and dairy industries (Table 1).


http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/DOCKETS/dailys/04/sep04/092104/04n-0264-c00142-vol22.pdf



Monday, October 19, 2009

Atypical BSE, BSE, and other human and animal TSE in North America Update
October 19, 2009


http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2009/10/atypical-bse-bse-and-other-human-and.html





Sunday, September 6, 2009

MAD COW USA 1997 SECRET VIDEO


http://madcowusda.blogspot.com/2009/09/mad-cow-usa-1997-video.html




U.S.A. HIDING MAD COW DISEASE VICTIMS AS SPORADIC CJD ? see video at bottom


http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2009/07/usa-hiding-mad-cow-disease-victims-as.html




DAMNING TESTIMONY FROM STANLEY PRUSINER THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER ON PRIONS SPEAKING ABOUT ANN VENEMAN see video


http://maddeer.org/video/embedded/prusinerclip.html



2009 UPDATE ON ALABAMA AND TEXAS MAD COWS 2005 and 2006


http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2006/08/bse-atypical-texas-and-alabama-update.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/bbs/topics/enforce/2007/ENF00996.html

NEW URL

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; b) Performance Chick Starter, Recall # V-131-6; c) Performance Quail Grower, Recall # V-132-6; d) Performance Pheasant Finisher, Recall # V-133-6.

CODE None

RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER

Donaldson & Hasenbein/dba J&R Feed Service, Inc., Cullman, AL, by telephone on June 23, 2006 and by letter dated July 19, 2006. Firm initiated recall is complete.

REASON

Dairy and poultry feeds were possibly contaminated with ruminant based protein.

VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE

477.72 tons

DISTRIBUTION

AL ______________________________

PRODUCT

a) Dairy feed, custom, Recall # V-134-6; b) Custom Dairy Feed with Monensin, Recall # V-135-6. CODE None. Bulk product

RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER

Recalling Firm: Burkmann Feed, Greeneville, TN, by Telephone beginning on June 28, 2006.

Manufacturer: H. J. Baker & Bro., Inc., Albertville, AL. Firm initiated recall is complete.

REASON

Possible contamination of dairy feeds with ruminant derived meat and bone meal.

VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE

1,484 tons

DISTRIBUTION

TN and WV

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/enforce/2006/ENF00968.html


Subject: MAD COW FEED RECALLS ENFORCEMENT REPORT FOR AUGUST 9, 2006 KY, LA, MS, AL, GA, AND TN 11,000+ TONS

Date: August 16, 2006 at 9:19 am PST

RECALLS AND FIELD CORRECTIONS: VETERINARY MEDICINE - CLASS II ______________________________

PRODUCT

Bulk custom made dairy feed, Recall # V-115-6

CODE None

RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER

Hiseville Feed & Seed Co., Hiseville, KY, by telephone and letter on or about July 14, 2006. FDA initiated recall is ongoing.

REASON

Custom made feeds contain ingredient called Pro-Lak which may contain ruminant derived meat and bone meal.

VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE

Approximately 2,223 tons

DISTRIBUTION

KY

______________________________

PRODUCT

Bulk custom made dairy feed, Recall # V-116-6

CODE None

RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER

Rips Farm Center, Tollesboro, KY, by telephone and letter on July 14, 2006. FDA initiated recall is ongoing.

REASON

Custom made feeds contain ingredient called Pro-Lak which may contain ruminant derived meat and bone meal.

VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE

1,220 tons

DISTRIBUTION

KY

______________________________

PRODUCT

Bulk custom made dairy feed, Recall # V-117-6

CODE None

RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER

Kentwood Co-op, Kentwood, LA, by telephone on June 27, 2006. FDA initiated recall is completed.

REASON

Possible contamination of animal feed ingredients, including ingredients that are used in feed for dairy animals, with ruminant derived meat and bone meal.

VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE

40 tons

DISTRIBUTION

LA and MS

______________________________

PRODUCT

Bulk Dairy Feed, Recall V-118-6

CODE None

RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER

Cal Maine Foods, Inc., Edwards, MS, by telephone on June 26, 2006. FDA initiated recall is complete.

REASON

Possible contamination of animal feed ingredients, including ingredients that are used in feed for dairy animals, with ruminant derived meat and bone meal.

VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE

7,150 tons

DISTRIBUTION

MS

______________________________

PRODUCT

Bulk custom dairy pre-mixes, Recall # V-119-6

CODE None

RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER

Walthall County Co-op, Tylertown, MS, by telephone on June 26, 2006. Firm initiated recall is complete.

REASON

Possible contamination of dairy animal feeds with ruminant derived meat and bone meal.

VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE

87 tons

DISTRIBUTION

MS

______________________________

PRODUCT

Bulk custom dairy pre-mixes, Recall # V-120-6

CODE None

RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER

Ware Milling Inc., Houston, MS, by telephone on June 23, 2006. Firm initiated recall is complete.

REASON

Possible contamination of dairy animal feeds with ruminant derived meat and bone meal.

VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE

350 tons

DISTRIBUTION

AL and MS

______________________________

PRODUCT

a) Tucker Milling, LLC Tm 32% Sinking Fish Grower, #2680-Pellet, 50 lb. bags, Recall # V-121-6; b) Tucker Milling, LLC #31120, Game Bird Breeder Pellet, 50 lb. bags, Recall # V-122-6; c) Tucker Milling, LLC #31232 Game Bird Grower, 50 lb. bags, Recall # V-123-6; d) Tucker Milling, LLC 31227-Crumble, Game Bird Starter, BMD Medicated, 50 lb bags, Recall # V-124-6; e) Tucker Milling, LLC #31120, Game Bird Breeder, 50 lb bags, Recall # V-125-6; f) Tucker Milling, LLC #30230, 30 % Turkey Starter, 50 lb bags, Recall # V-126-6; g) Tucker Milling, LLC #30116, TM Broiler Finisher, 50 lb bags, Recall # V-127-6

CODE

All products manufactured from 02/01/2005 until 06/20/2006

RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER

Recalling Firm: Tucker Milling LLC, Guntersville, AL, by telephone and visit on June 20, 2006, and by letter on June 23, 2006. Manufacturer: H. J. Baker and Brothers Inc., Stamford, CT. Firm initiated recall is ongoing.

REASON

Poultry and fish feeds which were possibly contaminated with ruminant based protein were not labeled as "Do not feed to ruminants".

VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE

7,541-50 lb bags

DISTRIBUTION

AL, GA, MS, and TN

END OF ENFORCEMENT REPORT FOR AUGUST 9, 2006

###

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ENFORCE/2006/ENF00964.html


Subject: MAD COW FEED RECALL MI MAMMALIAN PROTEIN VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE 27,694,240 lbs

Date: August 6, 2006 at 6:14 pm PST

PRODUCT

Bulk custom dairy feds manufactured from concentrates, Recall # V-113-6

CODE

All dairy feeds produced between 2/1/05 and 6/16/06 and containing H. J. Baker recalled feed products.

RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER

Vita Plus Corp., Gagetown, MI, by visit beginning on June 21, 2006. Firm initiated recall is complete.

REASON

The feed was manufactured from materials that may have been contaminated with mammalian protein.

VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE

27,694,240 lbs

DISTRIBUTION

MI

END OF ENFORCEMENT REPORT FOR AUGUST 2, 2006

###

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/enforce/2006/ENF00963.html



THIS LIST IS ENDLESS, SEE FULL TEXT MAD COW PROTEIN SRMs IN COMMERCE. remember this, .005 gram of mad cow tainted material is lethal enough to kill one cow. ...tss


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



http://madcowspontaneousnot.blogspot.com/2008/01/january-2008-update-on-feed-enforcement.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



Audit Report

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Surveillance Program - Phase II

and

Food Safety and Inspection Service

Controls Over BSE Sampling, Specified Risk Materials, and Advanced Meat Recovery Products - Phase III

Report No. 50601-10-KC January 2006

Finding 2 Inherent Challenges in Identifying and Testing High-Risk Cattle Still Remain

Our prior report identified a number of inherent problems in identifying and testing high-risk cattle. We reported that the challenges in identifying the universe of high-risk cattle, as well as the need to design procedures to obtain an appropriate representation of samples, was critical to the success of the BSE surveillance program. The surveillance program was designed to target nonambulatory cattle, cattle showing signs of CNS disease (including cattle testing negative for rabies), cattle showing signs not inconsistent with BSE, and dead cattle. Although APHIS designed procedures to ensure FSIS condemned cattle were sampled and made a concerted effort for outreach to obtain targeted samples, industry practices not considered in the design of the surveillance program reduced assurance that targeted animals were tested for BSE.

USDA/OIG-A/50601-10-KC Page 27

observe these animals ante mortem when possible to assure the animals from the target population are ultimately sampled and the clinical signs evaluated.

snip...


http://www.usda.gov/oig/webdocs/50601-10-KC.pdf



GAO-05-51 October 2004 FOOD SAFETY

over 500 customers receiving potentially BSE contaminated beef .....

* GAO-05-51 October 2004 FOOD SAFETY (over 500 customers receiving potentially BSE contaminated beef) - TSS 10/20/04

October 2004 FOOD SAFETY USDA and FDA Need to Better Ensure Prompt and Complete Recalls of Potentially Unsafe Food

snip...

REPORTS

1. Food Safety: USDA and FDA Need to Better Ensure Prompt and Complete Recalls of Potentially Unsafe Food. GAO-05-51, October 7.tss


http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0551.pdf



Highlights -


http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d0551high.pdf



3. Mad Cow Disease: FDA's Management of the Feed Ban Has Improved, but Oversight Weaknesses Continue to Limit Program Effectiveness. GAO-05-101, Feb. 25.


www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-101



Highlights -


www.gao.gov/highlights/d05101high.pdf



SADLY, DEC 2005 SHOWS THAT WE STILL HAVE A SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH BSE/TSE MAD COW DISEASE FEED

GAO

GAO-06-157R FDA Feed Testing Program

October 11, 2005

SNIP...FULL TEXT 29 PAGES ;


http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06157r.pdf



Mad Cow Disease: An Evaluation of a Small Feed Testing Program FDA Implemented in 2003 With Recommendations for Making the Program a Better Oversight Tool. GAO-06-157R, October 11


http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-157R



PrPSc distribution of a natural case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy

Yoshifumi Iwamaru, Yuka Okubo, Tamako Ikeda, Hiroko Hayashi, Mori- kazu Imamura, Takashi Yokoyama and Morikazu Shinagawa Priori Disease Research Center, National Institute of Animal Health, 3-1-5 Kannondai, Tsukuba 305-0856 Japan gan@affrc.go.jp

Abstract

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a disease of cattle that causes progressive neurodegeneration of the central nervous system. Infectivity of BSE agent is accompanied with an abnormal isoform of prion protein (PrPSc). The specified risk materials (SRM) are tissues potentially carrying BSE infectivity. The following tissues are designated as SRM in Japan: the skull including the brain and eyes but excluding the glossa and the masse- ter muscle, the vertebral column excluding the vertebrae of the tail, spinal cord, distal illeum. For a risk management step, the use of SRM in both animal feed or human food has been prohibited. However, detailed PrPSc distribution remains obscure in BSE cattle and it has caused controversies about definitions of SRM. Therefore we have examined PrPSc distribution in a BSE cattle by Western blotting to reassess definitions of SRM. The 11th BSE case in Japan was detected in fallen stock surveillance. The carcass was stocked in the refrigerator. For the detection of PrPSc, 200 mg of tissue samples were homogenized. Following collagenase treatment, samples were digested with proteinase K. After digestion, PrPSc was precipitated by sodium phosphotungstate (PTA). The pellets were subjected to Western blotting using the standard procedure. Anti-prion protein monoclonal antibody (mAb) T2 conjugated horseradish peroxidase was used for the detection of PrPSc. PrPSc was detected in brain, spinal cord, dorsal root ganglia, trigeminal ganglia, sublingual ganglion, retina. In addition, PrPSc was also detected in the peripheral nerves (sciatic nerve, tibial nerve, vagus nerve). Our results suggest that the currently accepted definitions of SRM in 9/13/2005

179 Page 10 of 17

BSE cattle may need to be reexamined.

T. Kitamoto (Ed.) PRIONS Food and Drug Safety

================

ALSO from the International Symposium of Prion Diseases held in Sendai, October 31, to November 2, 2004; Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Japan

snip...


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



Detection and Localization of PrPSc in the Skeletal Muscle Thu Mar 2, 2006 10:40 70.110.86.250

© 2006 American Society for Investigative Pathology

Detection and Localization of PrPSc in the Skeletal Muscle of Patients with Variant, Iatrogenic, and Sporadic Forms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Alexander H. Peden, Diane L. Ritchie, Mark W. Head and James W. Ironside From the National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit and Division of Pathology, School of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) differs from other human prion diseases in that the pathogenic prion protein PrPSc can be detected to a greater extent at extraneuronal sites throughout the body, principally within lymphoid tissues. However, a recent study using a high-sensitivity Western blotting technique revealed low levels of PrPSc in skeletal muscle from a quarter of Swiss patients with sporadic CJD (sCJD). This posed the question of whether PrPSc in muscle could also be detected in vCJD, sCJD, and iatrogenic (iCJD) patients from other populations. Therefore, we have used the same high-sensitivity Western blotting technique, in combination with paraffin-embedded tissue blotting, to screen for PrPSc in muscle tissue specimens taken at autopsy from 49 CJD patients in the United Kingdom. These techniques identified muscle PrPSc in 8 of 17 vCJD, 7 of 26 sCJD, and 2 of 5 iCJD patients. Paraffin-embedded tissue blotting analysis showed PrPSc in skeletal muscle in localized anatomical structures that had the morphological and immunohistochemical characteristics of nerve fibers. The detection of PrPSc in muscle tissue from all forms of CJD indicates the possible presence of infectivity in these tissues, suggesting important implications for assessing the potential risk of iatrogenic spread via contaminated surgical instruments.


http://ajp.amjpathol.org/cgi/content/abstract/168/3/927



Prions in Skeletal Muscles of Deer with Chronic Wasting Disease

Rachel C. Angers,1* Shawn R. Browning,1*† Tanya S. Seward,2 Christina J. Sigurdson,4‡ Michael W. Miller,5 Edward A. Hoover,4 Glenn C. Telling1,2,3§ 1Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, 2Sanders Brown Center on Aging, 3Department of Neurology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA. 4Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. 5Colorado Division of Wildlife, Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA. *These authors contributed equally to this work. †Present address: Department of Infectology, Scripps Research Institute, 5353 Parkside Drive, RF-2, Jupiter, Florida, 33458, USA. ‡Present address: Institute of Neuropathology, University of Zurich, Schmelzbergstrasse 12, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland. §To whom correspondence should be addressed: E-mail: gtell2@uky.edu

Prions are transmissible proteinaceous agents of mammals that cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). The presence of infectivity in skeletal muscle of experimentally infected mice raised the possibility that dietary exposure to prions might occur through meat consumption (1). Chronic wasting disease (CWD), an enigmatic and contagious prion disease of North American cervids, is of particular concern. The emergence of CWD in an increasingly wide geographic area and the interspecies transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) to humans as variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (vCJD) have raised concerns about zoonotic transmission of CWD. To test whether skeletal muscle of diseased cervids.........SNIP....END...TSS

Monday, February 4, 2008

USDA CERTIFIED H-BASE MAD COW SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM

PLEASE NOTE, this disgusting video is just another example of just how terribly flawed the BSE surveillance and testing program has been over the past decades.

THIS video also proves what the GAO and OIG have been stating for years, that HIGH RISK SUSPECT MAD COW animals have been entering the food chain in the USA for years, and fed to humans and animals for human consumption. LET know one tell you any different, this plant is but one of many, they just got caught $$$

did you check out the waterboarding, without the board, of the high risk suspect mad cow with the high pressure water hose $

what has happened to humanity $

what have we become as humans $


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



SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM FROM DOWNER CATTLE UPDATE


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/



Blog Archive

2008 (8)

March (6)

California DOWNER COW meat worker: I was following...


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2008/03/california-downer-cow-meat-worker-i-was.html



USDA QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS HALLMARK/WESTLAND MEAT


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2008/03/usda-questions-and-answers.html



USDA to Hallmark: We want our plaque back


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2008/03/usda-to-hallmark-we-want-our-plaque.html



House committee subpoenas Hallmark/Westland CEO


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2008/03/house-committee-subpoenas.html



California lists possible recipients of recalled


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2008/03/california-lists-possible-recipients-of.html



To the hard working employees of USDA and


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2008/03/to-hard-working-employees-of-usda-and.html



February (2)

BEEF RECALL NATIONWIDE - SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM UPDATE


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html



TRANSCRIPT: Technical Briefing - Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/





TSS