Priorities

<a href="http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2007/10/30/local_news_updates/19local_10-30-07.txt">Tainted meat traced to Canada</a><br />n<br />n<blockquote>A now-closed Canadian beef company was the source of contaminated meat that sickened 45 people in eight states, U.S. Department of Agriculture officials say.<br />n<br />nOne of those states was Wyoming. A recall pulled the meat from shelves in Cheyenne in late September and early October.<br />n<br />nA joint U.S. and Canadian investigation identified the source by matching the DNA fingerprint of E. coli O157:H7 to a sample still in storage with Rancher's Beef Ltd. of Balzac, Alberta.<br />n<br />nIt also matches samples taken from Topps Meat Co. frozen hamburger packages at the homes of food poisoning victims.</blockquote><br />n<br />nThis is interesting. Topps Meat went out of business because of the E. coli problem, and Rancher's Beef Ltd in Canada went out of business before the discovery, or did they. Did Rancher's Beef know of the E. Coli problem and declare bankruptcy and go out of business before the E. Coli could be traced back to them?<br />n<br />nIn a lot of ways I doubt it, but it is interesting. There is a lot of opposition out there in cattle country to Canada shipping down older cattle because of <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> risk due to the new <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> rule. The chances of somebody getting sick and dying are a lot less from <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> from live cattle, statistically so close to zero as to be unimportant, than all ready proven from E. Coli shipped in from processed meat from Canada. Where is the hue and cry about public safety about E. coli from Canada from within cattle country? I hear a lot of silence.<br />n<br />nTruthfully myself, I would be a little more worried about the E. coli, which is a lot more common and causes more fatalities that <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym>, than about live cattle bringing in <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym>. I know I am in the minority though. Cattlemen are more worried about live cattle than processed beef. I call this hypocrisy. They claim the opposition to live cattle is for food safety, but if it is for food safety shouldn't we be hearing more about the E. coli issue and Canadian beef since this recent disclosure since this E. coli has killed more people than <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> will ever think of killing in the US?<br />n<br />nI'm not trying to pick on Canada here, but I do want to highlight where our priorities should be. If it is really on food safety, lets keep our eye on the ball and not lose our way with other issues clouding us. Food safety and security is too big an issue to play politics with.<br />n<br />n<strong>Action expresses priorities. Mohandas Gandhi</strong>