Meatpacking company wants to test its cows for disease before packing FDA stoped them

[e-brake]

Wow just who is the FDA think they are protecting when they wont allow a private company to use its own money to test its own animals for a disease that can be a huge public health problem. The FDA says that they cant allow the company to test its cows because then other meat packers might start testing their cows as well.......WTF!!!!!!!!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washing...-mad-cow_N.htm

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court says the government can prohibit meat packers from testing their animals for mad cow disease.
Because the Agriculture Department tests only a small percentage of cows for the deadly disease, Kansas meatpacker Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to test all of its cows. The government says it can't.
Larger meat companies worry that if Creekstone is allowed to perform the test and advertise its meat as safe, they could be forced to do the expensive test, too.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday overturned a lower court ruling that would have cleared the way for the testing. The appeals court said restricting the test is within the scope of the government's authority.

[charlie brown]

I believe the point is that if private companies tested the cows then they'd have to regulate the private companies for accuracy and it may be more cost effective if the FDA alone regulates quality

[Tomb]

Originally Posted by matias

I believe the point is that if private companies tested the cows then they'd have to regulate the private companies for accuracy and it may be more cost effective if the FDA alone regulates quality

fda did say that phen-phen was safe for along time too

[e-brake]

Originally Posted by matias

I believe the point is that if private companies tested the cows then they'd have to regulate the private companies for accuracy and it may be more cost effective if the FDA alone regulates quality

They wanted to do additional testing on top of the FDA testing. So the FDA would not have anything to say about its accuracy since these private tests are not for any regulatory purposes.

Basically the FDA stopped the testing to protect big business. This small meat packing company realized that people will pay more for meat that is organic and has been tested to assure that it is safe. The big meat packing companies dont want to be forced to compete so they asked the FDA to step in and make it illegal to test the meat.

So now we are back to the system of wait until a few thousand people get sick and all of the meat has been consumed.......then issue a recall when its to late.

[charlie brown]

at least it will keep doctors in business!

[BradH]

FDA is one of the biggest frauds in the current government. They don't test shit. From food to medicine everything gets approved.

I just watched a documentary on steroids the other night, and anyone can make a supplement and put it on the market with FDA approval. To get it off the market you basically have to prove it causes bodily harm to someone.

Our food poison scares are proof the FDA doesn't know what the fuck is up. It took them months to figure out tomatoes were not the source of the recent outbreak or whatever it was. But not before taking all of them off the market and making farmers lose millions of dollars and associating a negative stigma with the veggie.

Just like last year, I believe it was E.Coli found in a Taco Bell. The FDA thought it was the green onions. So everyone pulls onions off their menu. Then months later they figure out it was the lettuce.

Or the fucking peanut butter a year or two ago.

Point is, I don't think the FDA in itself does much to protect us or do its job properly. Once something happens everyone is already sick and affected by it. If a private company wants to test their own shit, they should certainly be able to.

Just another case of a big government ABC program that is ineffective.

[BradH]

Originally Posted by Tomb

fda did say that phen-phen was safe for along time too

Yes, you have to prove supplements are dangerous before they get pulled off the market. They aren't really tested prior to this.