Yes and no. If this small vendor tests all their meat and markets it as tested and safe, people could flock to it, even if it's more expensive.

To stay competitive, all vendors may have to begin testing all cows, significantly raising the price of all beef for everyone.

According to wikipedia, only 1 US citizen has died of Mad Cow, and they had recently traveled to the UK. The UK used animal byproducts in their cattle feed which lead to their epidemic.

Statistically, 1% should be more than enough to keep a watchful eye for presence of the disease in the meat supply. Thus far, there have only been 3 cases in the US. If more appear, testin...

Yes and no. If this small vendor tests all their meat and markets it as tested and safe, people could flock to it, even if it's more expensive.

To stay competitive, all vendors may have to begin testing all cows, significantly raising the price of all beef for everyone.

According to wikipedia, only 1 US citizen has died of Mad Cow, and they had recently traveled to the UK. The UK used animal byproducts in their cattle feed which lead to their epidemic.

Statistically, 1% should be more than enough to keep a watchful eye for presence of the disease in the meat supply. Thus far, there have only been 3 cases in the US. If more appear, testing and regulations would likely change. For now it seems that 100% is simply overkill.

The UK used animal byproducts in their cattle feed which lead to their epidemic.

That happens in the US too.

it's legal to put ground-up cattle remains in chicken feed. Feed
that spills from cages mixes with chicken waste on the ground, then is
swept up for use in cattle feed.

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Scientists believe the BSE protein will survive the feed-making process and may even survive the trip ...

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The UK used animal byproducts in their cattle feed which lead to their epidemic.

That happens in the US too.

it's legal to put ground-up cattle remains in chicken feed. Feed
that spills from cages mixes with chicken waste on the ground, then is
swept up for use in cattle feed.

'); } else if (_version ');}// -->

Scientists believe the BSE protein will survive the feed-making process and may even survive the trip through a chicken's gut.

That amounts to the legal feeding of some cattle protein back
to cattle, said Linda Detwiler, a former Agriculture Department
veterinarian who led the department's work on mad cow disease for
several years.

In the US it really is a system of "don't test, don't know."