No more Gringo Beef???

This is not true.  Here are the details from the hoax kill website:

Description: Email rumor (see also: Canadian version)
Circulating since: May 2002
Status: Misleading / Outdated

Comments: The grain of truth in this alarmist rant is that McDonald's indeed announced in mid-2002 that the company would test imported beef in a small percentage of its U.S. restaurants. However, the meat in question was to be produced in New Zealand and Australia, not South America.
McDonald's cited a short supply of lean beef as the reason for the experiment. The imported product would come from grass-fed herds, the company said, which tend to yield leaner meat than the mostly grain-fed cattle raised in the United States.
Even so, many U.S. cattle producers called for a boycott of McDonald's, sometimes citing the same health and safety concerns brought up in this chain letter. Their alarmism rang a bit disingenuous, however, given that Americans already consumed roughly 1.5 million tons of imported beef per year, much of it from Australia and New Zealand. In fact, as of 2002, the United States imports more beef than any other country in the world.
If non-U.S. beef per se really does constitute a serious health threat to American consumers, McDonald's tentative foray into the foreign market would seem to be the least of our worries.
Update: A new version circulating since February 2009 claims McDonald's is planning to use South American beef at its Canadian locations.

Source: http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/business/a/mcdonalds_beef.htm

 

I'm sure those of you who aren't in the cattle business don't understand the
issues here. But to those of us
whose living depends on the cattle market, selling cattle, raising the best
beef possible... This is frustrating.
This will keep us from ever stopping there again, even for a drink.
The original message is from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association
American cattle producers are very passionate about this.
McDonald's claims that there is not enough beef in the USA to support their
restaurants. Well, we know that is not so. Our opinion is they are looking
to save money at our expense. The sad thing of it is that the people of the
USA are the ones who made McDonald's successful in the first place, but we
are not good enough to provide beef.
We personally are no longer eating at McDonald's, which I am sure does not
make an impact, but if we pass this around maybe there will be an impact
felt.
All Americans that sell cows at a livestock auction barn had to sign a paper
stating that we do NOT EVER feed our cows any part of another cow. South
Americans are not required to do this as of yet.
McDonald's has announced that they are going to start importing much of
their beef from South America . The problem is that South Americans aren't
under the same regulations as American beef producers, and the regulations
they have are loosely controlled.
They can spray numerous pesticides on their pastures that have been banned
here at home because of residues found in the beef. They can also use
various hormones and growth regulators that we can't. The American public
needs to be aware of this problem and that they may be putting themselves at
risk from now on by eating at good old McDonald's..
American ranchers raise the highest quality beef in the world and this is
what Americans deserve to eat. Not beef from countries where quality is
loosely controlled. Therefore, I am proposing a boycott of
McDonald's until they see the light.
I'm sorry but everything is not always about the bottom line, and when it
comes to jeopardizing my family's health, that is where I draw the line.
I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you? Acting
together we can make a difference.
The information and text from ... David W. Forrest, Ph.D ., PAS, Dipl.
ACAP Department of Animal Science
Texas A&M University