German Farmer Groups Slam Sloppy BSE testing

The German Farmers’ Association (DBV) has sharply criticized the shortcomings detected in BSE tests on cattle in several German states. DBV spokesman Michael Lohse said not a single cow "should be allowed to slip through" during the close to three million BSE tests conducted every year and that consumers should be able to trust the fact that the beef they eat has been checked for mad cow disease. On Tuesday, it emerged that at least 76 cows in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland hadn’t been tested for BSE and the state of Lower Saxony is also probing whether untested meat could have landed in the market. Officials in Saarland say more than 10,000 cases of insufficient BSE tests have come to light throughout Germany. At the same time Lohse pointed towards the "enormous work" that BSE testing in Germany entails. Unlike EU regulations that stipulate beef cattle over 30 months of age should be tested for BSE, in Germany all cattle over 24 months are tested.