WASHINGTON, July 9 (UPI) -- The Food and Drug Administration Friday proposed additional mad cow disease safeguards, including banning potentially infectious tissues from human food.
Also on Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it is seeking public comment on additional safeguards, including whether a country's mad cow disease status should be taken into account when determining whether its meat inspection system is equivalent to U.S. regulations.
The FDA released an interim final rule that prohibits the use of certain potentially infectious cow tissues, such as brains and spinal cords, in human food, dietary supplements and cosmetics. The concern is that humans can contract a fatal brain disorder called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease from consuming meat infected with the mad cow pathogen.
The FDA said it is working on another proposed rule that would prohibit the potentially infectious tissues from being used in animal feed. The FDA also seeks public comment on whether to prohibit the use of all mammalian and poultry protein and materials from "downer" and dead cows in animal feed.
The first U.S. cow with the disease was discovered in December, though it was found to have been born in Canada.
