The above quotation is from a cattle farmer quoted in the New York Times story yesterday about the unbreakable impasse between the U.S. and Japan, which was the world's largest importer of American beef until they slammed the door with the discovery of a U.S. cow with B.S.E. (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, the scientific name for Mad Cow).
The U.S. now says it will test 225,000 "downer" cows this year for Mad Cow, out of the 35 million to be slaughtered. Previously, 20,000 cows a year were tested.
The Japanese government, asked to lift its ban on imported U.S. beef with the initiation of this new program, said "No, thank you. Not until you test every single cow, just like we do in Japan." The U.S. says no way, blah blah blah.
My prediction: by the end of the year, we will be testing every cow slaughtered. The beef industry is already reeling from the recent revelation that one U.S. cow tested positive.
Just wait till the first U.S. citizen becomes sick with Mad Cow (that's not "if, but "when"). It could trigger a collapse of the U.S. economy, so huge is our meat industry.
Time to dump your McDonald's stock, if you're silly enough to have ignored my heads-up six months ago.
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