Our advanced regulations and strict testing procedures have been in place since the 1980s, when the disease was first detected in Great Britain. Current safeguards include bans and restrictions on certain animal and product imports, ongoing surveillance for any signs of the disease in the United States, a ban on certain types of animal feed, and an emergency response plan to contain and isolate animals in the unlikely event the disease is found here. The focus of this coordinated and mandatory effort is zero tolerance. The FDA and the USDA have the full support of America's farmers to put in place comprehensive safeguards to prevent this disease from entering the country. These rules leave no bases uncovered and help ensure that what happened in Europe will not happen here.
American beef is safe and our farmers are pledging to keep it that way.
While no plan is completely foolproof, America's farmers continue to be aggressively working to keep the disease from crossing our borders. Farmers are consumers just like everyone else. They do not have their own secret supply and very few process their own meat anymore. Farm families buy from the grocery shelf and consume their beef from the grocery stores just like the families located in a large city. They want safe food just as much as anyone and that is why they are pledging daily to produce only the best and to take whatever safeguards necessary to keep mad cow disease away.