[NTegraT]

Still under a little shock after reading this that "sick" beef has been allowed in the human consumption chain at all. Dog food, etc., maybe, but humans?

[In_25_words_or_less]

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said on Tuesday the government was banning downer cattle -- animals at the slaughter plant too sick or injured to walk on their own -- from being used as food for humans.

Yeah, it is definitely a surprise that no such ban was already in place.

[zarf]

Soylent Green is downer cattle.....unbelievable.

[aruanan]

You know, it's funny but when Indians--uh, Native Americans--used every bit of an animal's carcass, it's ecologically-sensitive and demonstrates the deep, spiritual frugality of the Native American living in tune with nature. When white cattlemen do it, it's because they're greedy.

[horse_doc]

Still under a little shock after reading this that "sick" beef has been allowed in the human consumption chain at all.

You ought to spend a morning in a sale barn. People sell sick animals for one form of consumption or another every single day.

BTW - most premium dog foods are made of a higher quality meat than is required in, say, bologna.

[dever412]

The USDA has long allowed meat from downed animals into the market. Beef can be so sick it is literally dragged, pulled, or bulldozed into a plant for slaughter. Animals can have cancer, E coli, etc. School cafeterias have long been the largest buyer of downed beef or surplus farmed goods.

From one person who's child contracted E coli from school meat: The mission for the school lunch program should be rewritten to emphasize food safety as a fundamental concern. The standing USDA prioritization of price above all has resulted in school lunches becoming a dumping ground for ground beef and other agricultural products of questionable safety. After my son's illness the Dept. of Agriculture closed down the business where the meat had been produced, and pulled its inspection stamp, because the product they found in the plant was contaminated, misbranded, adulterated, and unfit for human consumption. Such meat should never have found its way into the school lunch system in the first place. Purchasing policies should take into account the vulnerability of the population being served and prioritize safety accordingly.