Inspectors failed to perform a required mad cow test on a suspicious cow in Texas, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Monday, just as the Bush administration is pushing to reopen world markets to U.S. beef.
…
Last year, USDA tested only 20,000 cattle for mad cow disease, a level criticized by consumer groups as inadequate, out of about 36 million slaughtered. For an 18 month period starting in June, USDA aims to test at least 200,000 cattle.

US Mad Cow Test Procedure Violated in Texas-USDA – Reuters

The Japanese, who test every animal for mad cow disease, will not allow American beef imports again until the U.S. cattle industry does the same.
In order to resume selling beef in Asia, Stewart made an offer: He would test every animal that came through his facility for mad cow disease, and he would pay the cost of having the government oversee the tests.
But the U.S. Department of Agriculture refused.
“They’ve told us if we attempt to buy those test kits and use them, they are going to put me in jail,” Stewart said.
The government has never allowed private testing. And even though test kits are available, they are not licensed.
…
The USDA estimates testing all cattle could cost $1 billion. The rest of the cattle industry, which could be forced by competition to test as well, is siding with the government.

Mad Cow, Madder Cattleman: Rancher Willing to Pay for Mad Cow Tests, But USDA Says No – ABCNews

The recent case of a Texas cow that had symptoms of mad cow disease but was not tested is not an isolated event, a federal veterinarian told UPI.

USDA vet: Texas mad cow breach not unique – Washington Times

USDA said no part of the animal, killed on April 27, entered the human food chain.

USDA Says Procedure Not Followed with Texas Cow – Reuters

The FDA planned to send a letter to the business saying it “will not object to use of this material in swine feed only” because pigs are not considered [emphasis mine] susceptible to mad cow disease, one in a family of illnesses known to infect grass-eating animals.

FDA Says Texas Cow OK for Swine Feed – Guardian

Animals that have been destroyed can still be processed at rendering plants that prepare animal byproducts for use in consumer goods, from cosmetics to gelatin for drug capsules. The government believes such items pose no risk to human health.

Ill Texas Cow Killed Before It Was Tested – Guardian

Commercial melatonin may be extracted from bovine pineal gland. There may be a risk of contracting mad cow disease.

Melatonin – Wikipedia

Within the next week, solely by coincidence, I read an article in a science magazine to which I had a subscription (maybe it was Scientific American, I can’t remember) on Chronic Wasting Disease, another prion disease which affects deer and elk. The article recommended some further reading and that’s when my attention was truly caught. What interested me most was the incidence of CWD in the United States, and the research showing that CWD could be passed across the species barrier, as well as from wild to captive populations. Syllogize that information, and you realize how truly at-risk our cattle ranches are.

Meanwhile, governmental policy in the US is based on restricting the importation of cattle products from countries with known infections, and pays no regard to the possibility of pre-existing infection in this country. The US government is performing the same cover-ups and gloss-overs and embracing the same selective science that got Britian in trouble in the 1980’s.

Take this article, for example.

The statement that “whole cuts of beef – steaks, chops, roasts – are generally safe to eat because mad cow disease is not known to affect the cattle’s muscle meat” was my first red flag. The first part of the sentence doesn’t follow from the reason given. Insert the word “considered” before the phrase “generally safe” and it reads something closer to the truth. The real truth is that very little is known about the disease itself. Even the notion of BSE being caused by a protein is still in debate, as that idea, if proven accurate, would shake generally accepted beliefs about DNA itself. Scientists don’t enjoy altering their models of nature. The basic ideas about DNA, RNA, and virus replication are the basis for modern virology and bacteriology, and changing those models would preclude changing the very way we treat and control disease in general.

Anyway, I could rip up the whole Q&A, but I’d never get around to finishing this entry if I tried. The folks at Metafilter feel the same way about similar articles and statements. I recommend reading their discussion and a few of their cited websites.

I also recommend reading:
Mad Cow USA by Sheldon Rampton (Contributor), John C. Stauber
Deadly Feasts: The “Prion” Controversy and the Public’s Health by Richard Rhodes (my highest recommendation; contains the most scientific background)
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (Author) (about the meat industry)
Toxin by Robin Cook (Fiction, but based on quite a bit of research on the beef industry)