For the past several years, most of us have read or heard news stories about BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), often referred to as mad-cow disease. Since this disease was first diagnosed in England in 1985 and linked to meat and bone meal products from the United Kingdom, BSE has been suspected in the deaths of 87 people. Eighty-three of these were in England; three were in France and one was in Ireland. There has never been a case in the United States.

The U.S. beef industry, including MFA Incorporated, wants to keep it that way. In August 1997, the Food and Drug Administration banned the use of ruminant-derived meat and bone meal in the manufacture of feeds to be fed to ruminant animals. We reacted quickly to assure full compliance with this requirement. We currently require all suppliers to certify that all meat and bone meal is free of ruminant-derived material. We will source these products from pork packing plants only.

You may see feed companies promoting a third-party certification program. As both the state of Missouri and FDA frequently inspect our facilities, we have elected not to participate in this program. I can assure you that our products are as safe as any on the market. We can provide third-party verification by results of the state inspections, should you want to see this. Our feeds are free of ruminant-derived meat and bone meal products. By the end of May, our feed mills will have been inspected three times.

You also may have questions about the use of beef tallow and blood meal. As these products are not implicated in the transmission of BSE, their use has not been restricted by FDA. We will continue to use them safely when they contribute to product quality.

Not all feeds are subject to the FDA restrictions on inclusion of ruminant-derived meat and bone meal. The restrictions only apply to feeds to be consumed by ruminants. Although MFA excludes the ruminant-derived meat and bone meal from all feeds produced at our mills, other mills may continue to produce swine feeds, poultry feeds, specialty feeds or pet foods with this as an ingredient. In fact, our pet foods as well as the pet foods of most other feed companies do contain ruminant products. Therefore, it is essential that producers grinding their own feed do not use these or salvaged products of unknown content to produce feed.

In addition, those grinding their own feeds need to be aware of the following:

• Steamed bone meal. This product is prohibited in ruminant feeds. Do not use it as an ingredient in your grind-and-mix operation.
• Meat scraps, meat and bone meal, or any product containing animal proteins. Do not use any products marked as "not to be fed to ruminants."

Neither BSE nor vCJD (the new variant form of a disease associated with BSE) has ever been found in the United States. USDA and FDA have taken measures to prevent this from ever happening or spreading within the United States in the unlikely event it should reach here.

We at MFA have taken steps even beyond those required by FDA to further assure the safety of our feeds. You, our customers, and the American consumer should have complete confidence in the safety of the American beef supply.

In terms of historical perspective, it might help clear up confusion to know that the variant disease, associated with mad-cow disease, is similar to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). CJD was first diagnosed in the 1920s. Its causes are unknown. It occurs throughout the world at a frequency of about one case per million population per year. This frequency rate is consistent among all populations regardless of country. It is also consistent regardless of diet. The disease occurs at the same frequency among vegetarians as it does in populations of meat eaters.

The new variant form (vCJD) has only been found in the United Kingdom and those European countries that have imported animals or animal products from the United Kingdom. The variant is similar to classic CJD, but neither form is transmissible from person to person. All cases of vCJD have been traced back to people consuming beef from cattle infected with BSE. It is believed that changes in rendering processes in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s provided an environment that led to the mutation of the agent that causes scrapies in sheep to a form that caused the BSE outbreak in cattle.

Why is this an issue here? Just as it seemed the United Kingdom had this problem under control, BSE-infected cattle began showing up in European countries. Investigation showed the spread of BSE was a result of the United Kingdom shipping BSE-contaminated meat and bone meal to these countries, even as they prohibited its use in animal feeds in their own country.

At about the same time this news occurred, a news story broke that a mill in Texas had mixed ruminant-derived meat and bone meal in a load of feed going to a feedlot. The meat and bone meal was not from England or Europe. Although the mill immediately caught the mistake, reported it to FDA, recalled the feed, and bought and destroyed all cattle that had been exposed, animal rights activists used this as a media event to try to destroy consumer confidence in the safety of America's beef supply.

Those activists deserve to fail.