A New Measure to Keep Mad Cow Disease out of the Human Food Chain

The U.S. government put into effect new measures starting December 30 of last year that prohibit slaughter of sick “downer” cattle--those unable to walk because of injury or disease--for human consumption.

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced in a press conference the new regulations that ban small intestines, head and spinal tissues of older cows from entering the food supply. They also include changes in slaughterhouse techniques to prevent meat from being accidentally contaminated.

Veneman added that new rules in line with other nations’ should be undertaken, but it does not mean the new regulations are being put in place under the trading partners’ pressure. It suggests that the new U.S. moves were set in order to lift the ban of U.S. beef imports by a number of nations.

Under the new regulations, the slaughter of animals, most likely older cows, singled out to be tested for mad cow disease will be prohibited until test results come back.

Veneman said the price of U.S. beef was not expected to rise as a result of the new rules since downer cattle represent a small proportion of the animals processed in the U.S. About 130,000 downer cattle go to the slaughterhouse in the U.S. each year.

The New York Times said that the new rules ban a practice, air-injection stunning, in which air is blasted into an animal’s skull to render it unconscious before slaughter, but they could cause some confusion since a new machine to slaughter cows has not been developed.

Kwan-Hee Hong konihong@donga.com