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Showing posts with label usda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label usda. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

I am utterly appalled!

I don’t really even know where to begin. I know I have had my rants on the toy-recall-debacle and on some other government-neglected safety issues…but this one just tops it all.

The USDA has announced the largest beef recall in history, 143 million lbs of beef (translated to = roughly 204,000 cows). Sick cows. And more disturbing, in the videos the cows are "dairy cows." Okay so, I am not a farmer, but I always thought that "dairy" cows were for milk and "beef" cows were for beef…call me naïve…but that is what I always thought.

In the video taken by an undercover investigator for an animal welfare group last year – it shows these cows being electrocuted, pushed with forklifts and waterboarding in an attempt to get the sick cows to stand-up for inspection. (If you can stomach your way through it, ‘cause to be honest – I tried and just couldn’t, the Humane Society has the video on their site). And to rewind a bit, your eyes are not fooling you, this all happened last year, and that is how long it took for our government to finally step-in.

Not only is this an issue about animal cruelty…but health safety. This meat was tainted as far back as 2006…and oh by the way, some of it was already eaten or drank for that matter. What?

But be assured, no one reported being sick.

Oh and the recalled meat was eaten by school children? Apparently the meat was being served in school (unknowingly of course) – hamburgers, tacos and spaghetti sauce - and really milk products should be included too.

According to the reports "Federal regulations call for keeping downed cattle out of the food supply because they may pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease since they typically wallow in feces and their immune systems are often weak." Nice.

So again, what is the government doing to protect your child today? This was only one incident – one company caught – makes one wonder, should I just switch to organic or turn vegan?

Cause the USDA label certainly doesn't make me trust the product.


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