Americans apparently haven’t lost their taste for hamburgers. McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s said Monday that hamburger sales have held steady since the first case of mad cow disease in the U.S. surfaced last Tuesday.
Despite the apparent calm among consumers, though, a leading consumer group said Monday that the government should step up cattle testing and tracking.
“I don’t think this is a health crisis, and I don’t think people should be afraid to eat whole pieces of meat,” said Carol Tucker Foreman, a food safety expert with the Consumer Federation of America.
The industry, however, should end its practice of feeding processed animal parts to cattle, strengthen tracking efforts and test more cattle for the disease, Foreman said.
U.S. and Canadian officials are scrambling to prevent a confidence crisis in U.S. beef after the Agriculture Department announced that a Holstein cow tainted with mad cow disease was found in Washington state.
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Compiled from RedEye news services and edited by Lara Weber (lweber@tribune.com) and Drew Sottardi (dsottardi@tribune.com)
