No meat from fallen cows, USDA says

WASHINGTON — The Agriculture Department significantly upgraded the country's defenses against mad cow disease Tuesday, banning meat from cows that can't walk or stand on their own and promising to speed up creation of a nationwide animal tracking system.

The changes, supported by consumer advocates, also were intended to boost confidence in the U.S. beef supply at home and abroad, where more than 30 countries have banned American beef products.

These are "very aggressive actions," Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said Tuesday, one week after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease surfaced in a Washington state Holstein slaughtered Dec. 9.

The changes will include more rapid testing of cattle at higher risk of mad cow disease because of age or the presence of neurological problems. Their meat will not be processed until test results are back.

Veneman also said small intestines from cows will no longer be allowed into the U.S. food supply. Nor will head and spinal tissue from cattle older than 30 months — an age chosen because the disease generally has an incubation period of at least three years, officials said. In addition, the Bush administration is ordering changes in slaughterhouse techniques to prevent meat from being accidentally contaminated with brain or spinal cord tissue that can spread mad cow disease.

"Sound science continues to be our guide," Veneman said.

The Food and Drug Administration, however, said that for the time being it would not prohibit the use of the high-risk cattle products in pet foods and feed for chickens and pigs, saying there is no scientific evidence to support such a ban. There has been a ban on using cattle products in feed for cattle, sheep and goats since August 1997.

Many of the changes were implemented by Canada last May, when a single case of mad cow surfaced in Alberta. USDA had been considering some of the measures prior to the Washington state case, but a coalition of congressional Republicans and farm state Democrats blocked Congress from including the ban on meat from downed animals in a $373 billion catchall spending bill that has passed the House and awaits a vote in the Senate.

"We felt good about the system we had in place," said Dr. Ron DeHaven, USDA's chief veterinarian.

Under the new U.S. regulations, the sick cow slaughtered in Washington state earlier this month would not have been allowed to enter the food chain. The cow was sent to meatpacking plants almost two weeks before test results showed it had bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease.