I think that's unjustified criticism. We have had a number of measures in place in this country for several years to mitigate the possibility of mad cow spreading in this country. We have found a single case.
quote by Ann Veneman
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
I have to say that in this particular cow that we're dealing with, those parts of the cow were removed, and so we don't think there's any risk or very negligible risk to human health with this particular incident.
quote by Ann Veneman
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
But the fact of the matter is that all scientific evidence would show, based upon what we know about this disease, that muscle cuts - that is, the meat of the animal itself - should not cause any risk to human health.
quote by Ann Veneman
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
This was a dairy cow, and dairy cows have IDs on them. The ID was traced back to the farm in Washington. It's a dairy farm. And that farm now has been quarantined, and the owners have been very cooperative in doing that.
quote by Ann Veneman
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
We've had risk assessments performed by Harvard University, which said that even if we did have a small number of cases in this country that the likelihood of it spreading or getting into any kind of human health problem is very, very small.
quote by Ann Veneman
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
I think it's a little early to tell what the economic impact will be. This year our cattle prices have been particularly high. The demand for beef has remained strong in this country, even though there was the single find in Canada earlier this year.
quote by Ann Veneman
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Great Britain had a much different situation than we do and did here in the United States, in that they had literally thousands of infected animals with human health risks. Their infectivity in this disease happened before very much was known about it.
quote by Ann Veneman
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
I think it's important that, as a matter of course, the brain and spinal column were removed from this cow, and that would be the material that would cause concern in terms of human health. And therefore we're confident in the safety of the food supply.
quote by Ann Veneman
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!