TEST ALL CATTLE FOR BSE

That's the clarion call that the cattle industry hopes will fade away. But so far it's not. Back in December Dennis Kucinich proposed congressional legislation to test all downer cows (before the USDA said it would ban them from the food chain) as well as other safety initiatives that may wind up in the pipeline before he can get to them. Now another congressman, Rep. Miller, is proposing testing for BSE every cow that's slaughtered in the U.S. Beef people don't like this one bit, reaching for their traditional arsenal of grand overstatements: "The vast majority of the cattle slaughtered in the United States are under 30 months of age and perfectly healthy, and these animals are not at risk for BSE," Higgins said. But see, that's a lie. There are plenty of cattle under 30 months that are "at rist for BSE," like the latest two in Japan, who were so much at risk that they actually had it. Wonder how much longer these fibs will go unchallenged.