USDA chief rejects 'downer cow' ban

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer has told Congress he would not endorse an outright ban on so-called downer cows entering the food supply.

Schafer told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Thursday he also would not back stiffer penalties for regulatory violations by meat-processing plants following the largest beef recall in the U.S. history, the Washington Post reported.

Current rules, he said, are "adequate."