The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on Thursday announced a permanent prohibition on the slaughter of cattle that are unable to stand or walk ("downer" cattle) after their initial inspection at a plant.
FSIS said that the inability to stand or walk can be a clinical sign of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), which is also called mad cow disease.
Under the rule, cattle that are injured after they pass pre-slaughter inspection will be reevaluated to determine their eligibility for slaughter. Veal calves that cannot stand because they are tired or cold may be set apart and held for treatment and re-inspection.
The ban that will be effective Oct. 1, 2007 makes permanent an interim final rule prohibiting slaugher of non-ambulatory cattle in the United States.
On Jan. 12, 2004, FSIS issued a series of three interim final rules in response to the first BSE diagnosis on Dec. 23, 2003. Those rules had prohibited for human consumption non-ambulatory "downer" cattle and cattle tissue identified as specified risk materials (SRM); banned the use of high pressure stunning devices that could drive SRM tissue into the meat; and established requirements for Advanced Meat Recovery systems.
Source: Xinhua
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