(photo courtesy of barrysfreephotos.com)

A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture must allow meatpackers to test their animals for mad cow disease. Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, a meatpacker in Kansas, wants to test all of its cows. Larger packers fear they will have to test all their cows if Creekstone tests and begins touting its meat as safer.

The Department of Agriculture currently tests less than 1% of the beef that goes to market. The Department argues that widespread testing could lead to a false positive that would harm the meat industry.

Mad cow disease is linked to more than 150 human deaths, mostly in Britain. U.S. District Judge James Robertson put his order on hold until the government can appeal.

To read a full article that appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer click here:
Judge allows private testing for mad cow