US to Meatpackers: Don't Do Mad Cow Test

By MATT APUZZO

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to
keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease.

The Agriculture Department tests less than 1 percent of slaughtered
cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted
beef. But Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to test all
of its cows.

Larger meat companies feared that move because, if Creekstone tested
its meat and advertised it as safe, they might have to perform the
expensive test, too.

A federal judge ruled in March that such tests must be allowed. The
ruling was to take effect June 1, but the Agriculture Department said
Tuesday it would appeal - effectively delaying the testing until the
court challenge plays out.

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is linked to more than 150 human deaths worldwide, mostly in Britain.

There have been three cases of mad cow disease in the U.S. The first,
in December 2003 in Washington state, was in a cow that had been
imported from Canada. The second, in 2005, was in a Texas-born cow. The
third was confirmed last year in an Alabama cow.

The Agriculture Department argued that widespread testing could lead to
a false positive that would harm the meat industry. U.S. District Judge
James Robertson noted that Creekstone sought to use the same test the
government relies on and said the government didn't have the authority
to restrict it.

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