Then

U.S. rejects private tests for mad cow
Kansas firm's proposal isn't 'warranted,' USDA says
By Jon Bonné

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has rejected one meatpacker's plan to test all its cattle for mad cow disease, signaling that it won't allow private tests for the deadly affliction.

... Bill Hawks, the USDA's undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, said in a statement Friday that the government's public testing program is intended only to check for other cases and that "use of the test as proposed by Creekstone would have implied a consumer safety aspect that is not scientifically warranted."

Now

Testing Changes Ordered After U.S. Mad Cow Case
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

Substantial changes in the nation's mad cow testing system were ordered yesterday after British tests on a cow slaughtered in November confirmed that it had the disease even though the American "gold standard" test said it did not.