Free Republic

WASHINGTON Feb. 24 — A California company is recalling 90,000 pounds of frozen ground beef and beef patties because they may contain harmful E. coli bacteria that can cause food-poisoning, the Agriculture Department said Tuesday. The recalled products by Richwood Meat Co. Inc., of Merced, Calif., were distributed to U.S. military installations in the Far East and to retail stores and institutions in California, Washington, Oregon and Idaho, the department said. Richwood issued a recall after tests by a laboratory in Japan found E. coli, department officials said. Japan has had several reports of illness, but no illnesses linked to...

SEATTLE There are new questions over the mad cow found on a Washington farm. The government admits it may not have been a downer cow after all. It is critical the government sorts this out fast. If the mad cow was not a sick, crippled-looking cow – a trigger for mandatory testing, but healthy-looking, it could mean that infected cows are slipping through the cracks. Dave Louthan was there the day the Mabton mad cow was slaughtered at Vern's Moses Lake Meats. "I killed this cow," he said. "It was a walker." Louthan is now one of three people who...

<p>Dec. 23, said Rex Hale, executive chef at the steakhouse.</p> <p>"The business seemed like it was on a downward trend," Hale said.</p> <p>Consumers Association.</p> <p>"If you're testing all cows, none of it is going to get into the food chain,"</p> <p>Cummins said.</p>

The Bush administration is taking major steps to boost confidence in the U.S. beef supply at home and abroad, where more than 30 countries have banned American beef products since mad cow disease first surfaced in Washington state a week ago. The changes announced Tuesday include a ban on meat from cows that can't walk or stand on their own and a promise to speed creation of a nationwide animal tracking system. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said consumers shouldn't see an increase in prices as a result. A spokesman for the meatpacking industry, however, said beef prices could increase "pennies...

If there's a bright side to the U.S. mad cow scare, it's that it could speed the nation's move to a centralized system that electronically tracks animals as they move from fields to feed lots to food stores. Efforts to create a centralized database, which exist in some countries, have been slowed so far by disputes over who would maintain the database and who would bear its cost. Such a database could let agricultural officials determine within hours where a sick animal came from and where it went - a crucial step in a disease outbreak or a terrorist assault...

USDA Bans Downer Cattle from Human Food Tue December 30, 2003 04:12 PM ET By Charles Abbott WASHINGTON (Reuters) - 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. Veneman told a news conference the Agriculture Department would continue its "aggressive surveillance" of cattle for neurological ailments that could signal mad cow disease. Meat from those animals cannot be sold until tests show they are free of mad cow disease, she said....