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WASHINGTON D.C. (Dec. 29) The Bush administration faced growing pressure on Monday to roll out stricter regulations to prevent another case of mad cow disease as officials tried to convince Japan and other major buyers to resume buying billions of dollars worth of U.S. beef.

White House officials were worried about both the political fallout and the economic impact the disease could have at a time when the U.S. economy is showing signs of strength. The White House was looking at various regulatory options, but was wary of taking a dramatic step too quickly, an administration official said.

Consumer groups and Democratic presidential hopefuls have criticized the U.S. Agriculture Department's detection system, which tests suspect animals but allows their meat to be sold before a diagnosis is complete.

Mad cow, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is a fatal disease that destroys the brains of infected cattle. Humans can contract a form of the disease, known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, by eating the brains, spinal cords and central nervous system tissue of infected animals.

More than two dozen nations that buy U.S. beef have stopped shipments, bringing the $3.2 billion American beef export business to a halt.

U.S. trade officials met with their Japanese counterparts on Monday in Tokyo, but failed to persuade them that U.S. safeguards were adequate and shipments should resume. Japan bought more than $1 billion worth of U.S. beef, veal and variety meats last year.

"I replied that safety issues come first," Japanese Agriculture Ministry official Hiroshi Nakagawa told reporters.

The U.S. trade team was expected to meet with other Asian buyers to emphasize the U.S. Agriculture Department's initial research showing the infected Holstein cow was imported from Canada. Canada reported its first case of mad cow disease in late May, in a Black Angus cow from Alberta.

Canadian officials said there is no definitive evidence that the infected U.S. cow came from Canada.

REGULATORY CHANGES?

The Bush administration was said to be considering several possible regulatory changes to boost consumer confidence.

One option is for the USDA to launch a "test and hold" system to segregate carcasses of "downer" cattle, or those too sick to walk, until tests show their meat is safe. A leading U.S. cattle group last week dropped its opposition to such a system.

There also have been calls to ban all meat from downer cattle in the human food supply, to create a nationwide animal identification program, to require labels on meat packages with the country of origin, and to dramatically boost the number of U.S. cattle tested for mad cow disease.

The USDA plans to nearly double the amount of cattle tested in 2004 from about 20,000 tested this year.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said last week that they were considering a ban on the use of cattle remains as an ingredient in feed for pigs, poultry and household pets. In 1997, the FDA halted the use of cattle remains in feed for cattle after scientists found that an outbreak in Britain was most likely spread that way.

At least 137 people died from the human variant after mad cow disease struck livestock herds in Britain and Europe a decade ago.
Presidential candidate Howard Dean was among several Democrats who criticized the Bush administration for killing a recent Senate proposal to prohibit U.S. meat packers from using downer cattle in the human food supply. Dean urged the USDA to test every U.S. cow for BSE -- a practice adopted in Japan -- and said it would cost about 3 cents per pound.

U.S. officials have repeatedly said there is no risk to consumers from the recall of some 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms) of beef linked to the infected cow and 19 others slaughtered on Dec. 9.

On Sunday, the USDA widened the scope of the recall to include several more western states and Guam. Although hamburger from the cow might have been commingled with other meat, a USDA spokeswoman said it was "too soon to say" whether the recall would be expanded beyond 10,000 pounds.

Ron DeHaven, chief veterinarian at the Agriculture Department, said the government was "taking a look at our current system" for detecting and preventing mad cow disease. "We'll make the necessary adjustments," he said on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" program.
Cattle futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange were down about 10 percent from the 90.675 cents per pound that traded for February delivery before USDA's mad cow announcement last Tuesday.

Share prices in hamburger chains like McDonald's Corp., steakhouse chains and meat producers fell sharply on Wednesday but have retraced some of those losses since.

McDonald's, the No. 1 hamburger chain, No. 2 Burger King, and No. 3 Wendy's International Inc. all said on Monday their hamburger sales have held steady since the U.S. mad cow case was revealed. --

WASHINGTON D.C. (April 30) Coming to school menus nationwide: Tainted burgers, fruit and other foods? Reported outbreaks of school-related food borne illnesses have been rising about 10 percent a year, a congressional study said Tuesday.

The General Accounting Office recommended better coordination among federal agencies that inspect food plants with the state and local agencies that buy most food for schools. Outbreaks have been traced to a variety of products, including strawberries, milk, hamburgers, spaghetti sauce and fish sticks.

"Parents deserve a federal guarantee that the food their children eat at school is safe," said Rep. Janice Shakowsky, D-Ill.

In 1999, the latest year for which data are available, 50 school-related outbreaks were reported nationwide with 2,900 illnesses, GAO said. Accounting for changes in reporting methods, GAO estimated that reported outbreaks increased 10 percent annually during the 1990s. About 27 million meals are served in schools each day.

Officials don't know how many outbreaks were caused by lunches served in cafeterias as opposed to food pupils brought from home, but it is believed that school-provided meals were the culprit in most of the cases.

Of those outbreaks with known causes, most were linked to salmonella bacteria and Norwalk-like viruses, named for a town in Ohio where the dangerous virus was identified in the mid-1960s.

In 1998, burritos produced in Chicago are believed to have sickened 1,200 children nationwide. In 1997, more than 300 children in five states became ill after eating strawberries harvested in Mexico and processed in California.

The government has put price above safety in purchasing foods, and that has "resulted in school lunches becoming a dumping ground for ground beef and other agricultural products of questionable safety," Cheryl Roberts of Comer, Ga., told lawmakers at a joint hearing of House and Senate committees. Her son, then 11, became seriously ill in 1998 after eating an undercooked burger contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

The Agriculture Department heavily subsidizes school lunches and buys 17 percent of the food that is served. State and local agencies buy the rest. USDA "provides little guidance" to those agencies to ensure that the food they are buying is safe, GAO said.

GAO officials also faulted the government's complex regulatory system for food. USDA regulates meat, while the Food and Drug Administration has responsibility for most other foods. Neither agency has authority to require companies to recall tainted products.

At USDA, three separate agencies are involved with the school lunch program: the Food Safety and Inspection Service, which inspects meat, poultry and egg products; the Food and Nutrition Service, which sets nutrition and eligibility standards for meals; and the Agricultural Marketing Service, which buys the food.

"We're lucky to have the safest food system in the world, because that food system is a bureaucratic tangle," said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill. "There's no science behind this, only political tradition."

Creating a single agency to regulate food "would go a long way" toward improving its safety, GAO said.

USDA and FDA officials told the lawmakers they are coordinating more closely to regulate food plants. USDA also decided recently to start allowing state and local agencies to see company records where tainted food had been distributed. USDA also has developed a new process for holding suspected products while authorities investigate outbreaks.

"I'm not going to allow bad actors to sell food, not only to the school lunch program, but to anyone," said Elsa Murano, USDA's undersecretary for food safety.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 76 million Americans suffer from food borne illnesses each year, and 5,000 die. CDC released preliminary data in April that showed substantial drops in rates of illness from six of seven major types of food borne bacteria from 1996 to 2001. The rate of E. coli illnesses fell 21 percent, salmonella 15 percent and listeria 35 percent.

"Contaminated food is particularly dangerous to school-aged children, because this population is among those with the highest risk of contracting a serious illness resulting in hospitalization or death," said Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. --

WASHINGTON D.C. (April 26) A Cincinnati meat processor is recalling 140,000 pounds of frankfurters and hot dogs that may be contaminated with a germ that can cause a potentially fatal disease, the Agriculture Department's food safety service said Thursday.

John Morrell & Co. voluntarily reported the danger of Listeria monocytogenes, the service said in a statement. It produced the food on March 5 and distributed it to retail outlets nationwide.

Listeria can cause listeriosis, a rare but potentially fatal disease. Healthy people are rarely susceptible, but people with weak immune systems are particularly at risk. Especially susceptible are infants, the frail, the elderly, chronic disease sufferers, HIV-infected people and patients undergoing chemotherapy.

''Because of the potential for food borne illness, we want consumers to be aware of the recall,'' said Linda Swacina, the service's assistant administrator. Shoppers should return the products to the point of purchase.

The meat industry wants to rewrite rules from the former Clinton administration that would require makers of hot dogs, cold cuts and other ready-to-eat meat products test plant equipment for Listeria monocytogenes, saying they are too restrictive.

The Bush administration is undertaking an analysis of the risk and has delayed enforcement of the Clinton-era rules.

The food service statement did not explain where and how John Morell discovered the danger.

The following products bear ''P-2564'' inside the USDA seal of inspection:
-12-ounce packages of ''FMV Serve 'N save HOT DOGS MADE WITH CHICKEN AND PORK'' marked with a date code of ''Sell by May 14.''
-12-ounce packages of ''Rath Black Hawk HOTDOGS MADE WITH CHICKEN AND PORK'' marked with a date code of ''Sell by May 14.''
-12-ounce packages of ''PEYTON'S FRANKS MADE WITH CHICKEN AND PORK'' marked with a date code of ''Sell by Jun 13.''
-12-ounce packages of ''Rodeo Franks MADE WITH CHICKEN AND PORK'' marked with a date code. of ''Sell by Jun 13.''
-16-ounce packages of ''JOHN MORELL BUN LENGTH Franks MADE WITH CHICKEN AND PORK'' marked with a date code of ''Sell by May 14.'' This product was also sold to military commissaries.

The following products bear ''EST. 296'' inside the USDA seal of inspection:
-16-ounce packages of ''TOPS Franks BUN LENGTH'' marked with a date code of ''Sell by May 14.''
-16-ounce packages of ''Wilson Farms BUN LENGTH Franks'' marked with a date code of ''Sell by May 14.''
-10-pound boxes, each containing two 5-pound unmarked plastic bags, of ''JOHN MORELL FOODSERVICE BLACK LABEL GOURMET BEEF FRANKS'' marked with a date code of ''064. --

LINCOLN, NE (August 30) IBP Inc. is recalling 500,000 pounds of ground beef from 35 states and the District of Columbia, saying it may be contaminated with the deadly E. coli bacteria. The recall was voluntary and no illnesses have been associated with the meat, IBP said Wednesday, adding that it presents no danger if properly handled and thoroughly cooked. The government recommends cooking all ground beef to 160 degrees to destroy bacteria.

IBP, the nation's biggest beef processor, also recalled 266,000 pounds of ground beef in June.

The latest recalls came just days after American Foods Group in Wisconsin recalled more than 530,000 pounds of ground beef in 17 states because of concerns about E. coli. The contamination of the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria was discovered through samples collected by the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The beef was produced Aug. 7 in a Dakota City plant and distributed in 5 and 10 pound packages. The beef was distributed to wholesalers, distributors and grocery stores in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington D.C., West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The meat shipped to wholesalers bears the product code EST 245C SELL/FREEZE BY Aug. 25 A (or B) Box Codes D0271BH or D0371BH. Consumers who think they may have bought some of the meat were advised to contact the store where the purchase was made.

E. coli O157 can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration and it can be deadly, especially in children, people with suppressed immune systems and the elderly. The bacteria kills an estimated 60 Americans each year and sickens an estimated 73,000. See I Do Not Eat Dead Animals. --

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