now i’m not one to get all alarmist over a little “mad cow disease” possibly in the food supply, and i’d generally agree that human health risk is quiet low but the usda is certainly not doing itself any favors by refusing to release mad cow records:

“The USDA claims to have tested approximately 20,000 cows for the disease in 2002 and 2003, but has been unable to provide any documentation in support of this to UPI, which first requested the information in July.

In addition, former USDA veterinarians tell UPI they have long suspected the disease was in U.S herds and there are probably additional infected animals.”