The USDA's mad cow disease testing program is a sham: it doesn't test many cows showing neurological symptoms, it falsified records of one cow to make sure it received "downer" status, and it doesn't test healthy-looking cattle at all! These are the accusations from the USDA's own inspector general and various Senators who are hammering the USDA for its lackluster practices.
Clearly, there's a rift inside the USDA. The inspector general of the agency is trying to warn the public about what goes on behind closed doors, but the rest of the agency seems to have only one mission: protect the beef industry, not the public.
What the Senators didn't talk about -- at least so far -- is the alarming fact that diseased, dead cows are still being used as cow feed for other, healthy cows. This process, called "rendering," is a surefire way to spread mad cow disease from one infected cow to the entire herd. Customers, in turn, eat the red meat from the infected herd, then contract their own mad cow disease that turns their brains to jelly. It's happening right now in the United States, and the USDA deserves tremendous blame for protecting cattle ranchers and making sure that most cattle never get tested at all.
It's yet another example of a government agency that has become little more than the marketing branch of the very industry it's supposed to be regulating. Sound familiar? It's the same story over at the FDA.
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and award-winning journalist with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, and he has created several downloadable courses on survival and preparedness, including his widely-downloaded course on personal safety and self-defense. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2010, Adams launched TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video site featuring videos on holistic health and green living. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also a successful software entrepreneur, having founded a well known email marketing software company whose technology currently powers the NaturalNews email newsletters. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and pursues hobbies such as martial arts, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening. He's also author a large number of health books offered by Truth Publishing and is the creator of numerous reference website including NaturalPedia.com and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. His websites also include the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the innate healing ability of the human body.
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Sunday, July 18, 2004
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