New Mad Cow Rule Poses Health Dangers of its Own
US - A federal regulation aimed at preventing mad cow disease from getting into the food supply could create health risks of its own: many thousands of cattle carcasses rotting on farms, spreading germs, attracting vermin and polluting the water.
1 December 2008
1 minute read
At issue is a Food and Drug Administration rule, set to take effect in April, that will prohibit the use of the brains and spinal cords of older cattle as ingredients in livestock feed and pet food.
Some of the rendering plants that grind up carcasses for use in feed already have announced they will stop accepting dead cattle from farms because it would be too costly to remove the banned organs. Other renderers are likely to raise the prices they charge farmers.
Fallout fears
As a result, many farmers — especially now, with the economy in crisis — may simply bury dead cattle on their property or let them rot in the open, industry officials and regulators say.
