01/10/06 McDonalds, NCBA and the feed ban

American Rancher January 10, 2006 Scientists, McDonald's restaurants and a pharmaceutical supplier say in a letter to the FDA that the federal government is not fully protecting animals or people from BSE. Those groups claim the FDA's proposed new feed ban rules would continue allowing cattle to eat potentially infected feed. McDonald's says the risk of exposure should be cut to zero. Executive Directory of Regulatory Affairs for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Gary Weber, says those groups are ignoring the facts. Weber: "We all support steps that will continue to eradicate BSE in the United States. We believe the feed ban as currently implemented and enforced is capable of doing that. And we respect others opinions but ultimately that is the FDA's decision and they are bound by law to make a science based decision not one based on politics and pressure." Weber says NCBA does not believe McDonalds' is implying enormous risks, only that it feels more safeguards are needed. He points to USDA's BSE testing program which has found only one case of BSE in some 600-thousand head of cattle tested. Weber: "And what this is telling us is that now at eight years out after a feed ban was put in place arguably we'd be at our peak risk. They found one which tells us the disease is incredibly rare in the United States." The FDA reports feed ban compliance exceeds 99 percent though a recent Congressional report said the FDA is taking too long to test feed samples. I'm Bob Hoff.