Before you eat that USDA Prime steak, read this.

Be sitting down when you read this. Do not have a mouthful of coffee, wine, Gran Marnier, tea or rum and coke. If you're smoking, put it down.

THIS is a killer. You would probably expect that USDA beef, having been processed by a meatpacker, would have been tested for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, otherwise known as Mad Cow Disease.

Nope.

The federal government must allow meatpackers to test their animals for mad cow disease, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

Yes. You read that correctly. The US Department of Agriculture was trying to prevent meatpackers from testing the animals they slaughter for human consumption.

Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, a meatpacker based in Arkansas City, Kan., wants to test all of its cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. Larger meat companies feared that move because if Creekstone tested its meat and advertised it as safe, they could be forced to do the expensive test, too.

The Agriculture Department currently regulates the test and administers it to less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows. The department threatened Creekstone with prosecution if it tested all its animals.

How are you doing so far? Slap yourself in the face, this is not a bad dream and it's not a hoax.

Last July, the department cut its testing by about 90 percent. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said testing should reflect "a very, very low level" of the disease in the United States.

That would be about the same time the USDA felt the effects of a $2 billion budget cut.

The Agriculture Department argued that widespread testing could lead to a false positive that would harm the meat industry. Robertson said he was concerned by that possibility but noted that Creekstone sought to use the same test the government relies on.

Yes, well, better to kill a few citizens than harm the "industry".

Yes, a case of Mad Cow Disease will harm the industry. So better that no one ever finds out about it. A cover up would be illegal. Just stop testing the animals and everything just looks so good.

Remember, this is the administration which claims that their first responsibility is the protection of the American people. From terrorists; Not cows.

What you don't know because your government won't look, can kill you.