The USDA has proposed to ban all downer cattle from slaughterhouses in the country, a policy that could take effect before the summer’s end. The move by Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer is an effort to boost public confidence in the safety of the nation’s food supply.
The proposal, which could take effect within a few months, follows the largest beef recall in U.S. history earlier this year, which was the result of secretly recorded videotape that showed California meat plant workers using forklifts and electric prods on animals unable to stand in an effort to get them to the slaughterhouse.
“There should be no longer even a slim possibility of transporting a cow to market that is too weak to rise or to walk on its own,” Schafer told reporters. “This action sends a clear message to consumers in both domestic and in international markets that we will continue to uphold the highest standards to protect our food supply and deliver the highest-quality products.”
Schafer also said that “by reducing the incentive to send weak and marginal cattle to slaughter, it will reduce the likelihood that those animals will be subjected to inhumane handling at processing plants.”
The meat industry, long opposed to a total ban, announced in April that it had asked the USDA to enact one, in part to help pry open foreign markets to U.S. beef.
“We appreciate the department’s prompt response and timely action,” said J. Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute.
Schafer, who previously had said that a total ban was unnecessary, likened his change of heart to a business decision. Enacting a complete ban would boost consumer confidence while having little effect on slaughterhouses, he said. Of the 34 million cows slaughtered in 2007, fewer than 1,000 could not stand but were admitted to the slaughterhouse after a second inspection.
“This is not a food safety issue. It never has been,” he said. “There has been some confusion here in the consumers’ mind, in the media’s mind. . . . We are trying to eliminate any confusion.”