Much has been written in the media about "mad cow" disease in Great Britain and Europe. Feed that has been mixed with animal entrails has been implicated in the causation. There is a ten year incubation period before the disease manifests itself in animals or humans. Recently, these reports have accelerated and many nations have implemented measures to irradicate infected animals and curtail the sale of possibly contaminated meat products. In the United States however, beef, hogs, turkeys and chickens are now almost all raised on corporate factory farms under conditions that are foreign to their normal habitat. To cut the cost of their feed, it has been found than animal parts are ground up and mixed with normal feed for animals and birds, usually feed on grains, grasses, and seeds. To keep them from becoming ill, the corporate farmer adds enormous masses of antibiotics to their feed causing the consumer, to become resistant to illnesses when the antibiotics are most needed. There was a time when the public could trust the government to inspect meat, poultry, and fish before it was put up for s.e. This is no longer true. At present "just four meatpacking companies control 82 percent of the beef, lamb, and pork slaughter market." Recently, an inter-agency reort issued by the U.S. Dep't. of Agriculture (DOA); Dep't. of Heath & Human Services (DHHS); and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), reveales that the number of food inspections has decreased radically since 1981. Public Citizen, The Center for Public Integrity, and Greenpeace have reported on the possible culpability of Congress. This paper seeks to verify this.
Learning Objectives: Increasing the awareness of public health workers and researchers of the impact of lobbyists on Congress over food safety legislation.
Keywords: Disease Prevention, Consumer Protection
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.