Mad Cows, Maddening Credibility Crisis

Rather scary news coming out of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency this morning - the third cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy is only 6 years old. This means it was borne after the ban on feed from other cattle parts and ruminants came into effect.

The problem the North American Beef Industry is immediately going to face is what I dub a credibility crisis. The issue isn't whether or not there are cows out there with BSE... everyone will admit there are cows with BSE. Chances are good there are cows with BSE on both sides of the border, in fact.

No, the concern is due to

a) the cattle industry and government alike have repeatedly told consumers and regulatory officials that cattle are safe after the feed ban came into effect in 1997, and

b) the sheer timing of the discoveries, so soon after the announced reopening of the border, is surely going to lead to all sorts of embarassing questions.

The primary question going through the minds of key decision makes as they ponder whether or not to rescind the border opening isn't one of "is the food safe" but rather "what else aren't they telling us?