by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 05.12.08

Food & Health (food)
In most free countries, the Government and its agencies try to raise standards and make food healthier. Not in America. Creekstone Farms wanted to test every one of their cows for mad cow disease, to satisfy demand from overseas customers. Except that they are not allowed to; the USDA guidelines only test 1% of cows. Creekstone went to court for the right to test all of their cows and won at a lower level, but the Bush Administration is appealing it, saying that "more widespread testing does not guarantee food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers." What kind of government goes to court to stop testing done voluntarily by a company? Perhaps one that listens to large meatpackers who oppose wider testing because, according to AP, "consumer pressure would force them to begin testing all animals too. Increased testing would raise the price of meat by a few cents per pound." Lawyers for Creekstone say "This is the government telling the consumers, `You're not entitled to this information.'" The Chief Judge on the Court of Appeal seems to agree: "All they want to do is create information," Chief Judge Sentelle said, noting that it's up to consumers to decide how to interpret the information. No wonder people don't have faith in their food supply, when the government makes it illegal to even test it. ::Yahoo From: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/05/bush-government-sues-to-stop-testing.php