Going Mad
Headlines trumpeting “mad cow” – enough to make anyone in the rendering or livestock industries shudder – keep cropping up in the media. Take these three that recently appeared in The Washington Post:
• “Human Version of ‘Mad Cow’ on Rise”
• “Sheep May Have Had Brain Disease”
• “Florida Woman Has Illness Linked to ‘Mad Cow’”
The first article tells us that the number of British coming down with the disease is doubling every three years – despite stringent measures to keep brain and nerve tissue out of meat. The numbers – so far 117 Britons have succumbed – reflect a long delay in onset of symptoms, says a British researcher.
The second article declares that U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) tests on two sheep from a herd seized from a Vermont farm last year did not rule out “mad cow” disease. Another two to three years of testing is needed, according to the article, to get definitive results. (A press release said the tests confirmed that the sheep did have transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE), but that continued testing will show what kind of TSE.)
In the third article, we find that a 22-year-old woman is the first U.S. resident to be diagnosed with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human equivalent of ‘mad cow’ disease. The woman, who has been living in Florida for the past few years, grew up in Britain.
Rules, Rules, and More Rules
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) folks expect to start churning out voluntary guidelines for workplace ergonomics by this fall. The guidelines, aimed at reducing or preventing repetitive-stress injuries, will be industry specific.
Federal figures, OSHA Administrator John Henshaw said, show that such injuries are declining. Many employers have already been making their places safer and healthier, he indicated, “without government mandates.” But he had this warning for those who don’t make a good-faith effort: “We will go after the bad actors.”
Senate Democrats were critical of a voluntary, rather than mandatory, approach. “We’ve got guidelines that haven’t worked for 10 years, and now we’ve got more guidelines,” criticized Senator Paul D. Wellstone (D-MN).
Senator Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT) dubbed the administration’s plan, “a plan for a plan.”
Note: Senator John Breaux (D-LA) has introduced on Capitol Hill “A Bill to Provide for the Reissuance of a Rule Relating to Ergonomics,” otherwise known as S. 2184. This bill would have OSHA reconsider the old rule and to come up with a new rule within two years. Twenty-four fellow Democrats joined Breaux in sponsoring the bill, along with one lone Republican.
Plowing Ahead
Lawmakers had, as of press time, made a tentative agreement on Capitol Hill for a six-year farm bill. Loan rates for crops will be increased, and target prices will be reinstituted – they had been eliminated in the l996 farm bill.
Of particular interest to the meat and livestock industries: a proposal to limit meat packer ownership of livestock did not make the final cut; however, all imported meat must now be labeled by country of origin. A national dairy support program would also be put in place.
Got (Cow’s) Milk?
You won’t find soy milk in any federally subsidized school lunches. USDA regs say milk must be served with each meal and it must be cow’s milk. Not everyone is happy with the decree, saying that some stomachs don’t tolerate milk well, especially those of minority students.
Julia McMillan, professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, said that what Americans think about milk is “caught up in romantic notions about milking cows on the farm.” The reality, however, she said, is that when some students drink milk, they “have to sit in school with bloated stomachs and gas.”
Greg Miller, spokesman for the National Dairy Council, contends that soy is no substitute for milk for kids. “Soy does not give you the nutritional package that you get from milk,” he said.
Mooove Over, Bessy
Speaking of milk, there are those who say they get more of it from contented cows – at least those who get to luxuriate and chew their cuds on waterbeds. The beds, in use on some dairy operations in Europe for a few years, have made their way to a few farms here.
Mike Gamroth, a dairy cattle specialist at Oregon State University, thinks the beds might be good for the cows which lie down five to eight hours a day to digest their food. In recent years, a lot has been done to “fine tune” cow comfort, he said. “Milk production is so high you have to do all the small things to push it any further.”
Briefly
• Another plug for dairy: Researchers at Harvard Medical School in Boston have found that milk can help stave off adult-onset diabetes.
“The conclusions that can be drawn,” said head researcher Mark Pereira, are that in young adults, consuming all types of dairy products may protect individuals from developing obesity and risk factors of heart disease and type-2 diabetes.
• According to The Washington Post, police in western New York state said that someone had been sneaking into dairy farms at night and putting antibiotics into storage tanks – as well as injecting cows with antibiotics. None of the affected milk made it to consumers, authorities said.
• Watch where you step in Washington! USDA is using a new soybean-based carpet in its headquarters in the nation’s capital.
• Ten million dollars worth of buffalo meat will be showing up in federal feeding programs in an effort to prop prices. A portion of that must come from Native American sources.
• USDA will also be adding $6 million worth of breaded catfish to federal menus. That fish must be produced and processed in the United States.
• The following dispatch from the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia recently arrived at the State Department: “…50 members of the National Movement of Anti-U.S. Chicken Legs (GRANTAS) staged a peaceful demonstration at the American embassy in Jakarta…The highlight of the demonstration was the burning of a 10-foot chicken leg.”
June 2002 Render