The FDA, and what I'd like to know.....?

Question

Animal activists feel free to answer! There is all this talk about meat compnies using sick, dead, and unhealthy cows/ calfs for ground beef that we buy at the store today..... but isnt there regulations by the fda? I mean dont they prohibit or regulate this in some sort of way?????

Answer 1

First of all, the FDA is responsible for produce and drug safety.  They don't deal with meat or other animal products, that is up to the USDA.  But, the USDA is a government agency that is out to protect agriculture, including meat, dairy, and eggs.  The USDA is supposed to watch out for diseased meat but this is not the case.  Only about 1 in 200,000 slaughtered cows is tested for diseases like BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy...or Mad Cow Disease).  The USDA has people on it's board of personnel who used to work for the National Beef Council and the National Cattlemen's Association.  Since animal products make a lot of money, they aren't willing to tell people what is really going on and people who question them are often silenced or paid off to "forget" what they have learned.  I know this sounds like conspiracy but it's really not.  They are a for-profit government venture and they make a h**l of a lot of money being so aggressive.

Answer 2

I can't really answer your question, but I saw a PETA video "meet your meat", that talked about the conditions the cows and animals had to be in to be edible, so you could check that out.

edit: I just watched that segment of it, and it said that the USDA says that meat that contains cancerous legunes (sorry about the spelling) and pus filled wounds are USDA certified pure (which is why the animals usually aren't treated).

Answer 3

It's actually the USDA who regulates this, and since there are too many slaughterhouses, too many animals slaughtered, and far too few inspectors, a whole lot of stuff is going to fly right by.  Not to mention that since Bush II took over, he's put a lot of foxes in charge of all the henhouses.  And whatever regulations there may be are very weak and poorly enforced.

When I first went vegan six years ago, the estimate I got was that there are 10 billion animals slaughtered every year in the U.S. for food.  There's no way inspectors can keep up with the line speeds at the rate they're going.

And there probably won't be many laws passed because they would have to get out of the appropriate agriculture committee, and ag committees are usually comprised of lawmakers friendly to agribusiness.  It's why the veal crate issue in Florida and the pig crate issue in Arizona had to be put to the voters: The respective legislatures probably wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.