Downer beef isn't what we want for dinner | Missoulian

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Downer beef isn't what we want for dinner - Monday, April 5, 2004

SUMMARY: Forget the cripples. Beef industry should shore up confidence in the healthy herd.

The discovery of America's first case of mad cow disease in December focused a lot of attention on the way the nation's meat is raised and processed. That first mad cow was a Washington state dairy cow sent to slaughter reportedly because it was crippled. Moving quickly to calm public fears about the safety of beef, the U.S. Department of Agriculture in January banned all crippled cattle from the human food supply, saying research shows so-called "downer" animals are far more likely to be diseased - with mad cow or other maladies - than outwardly healthy animals.

The ban met with wide public approval. All concern about mad cow aside, many consumers were unpleasantly surprised to learn that the beef industry had been serving up helpings of sick animals in the first place.

Even before the rule banning meat from crippled cows from the table takes effect, however, there's a move in Congress to narrow the definition of what constitutes a downer. Montana's Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg is a co-sponsor of a bill introduced last week to loosen the restrictions on what can be sold for human food.

It's a big mistake

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