First US Case of Mad Cow Disease (BSE) reported.

Who cares.

Slam the border shut.

 

Who cares?

Ummm, there are reports of some sort of national recall, voluntary, as of right now.

 

I eat very little beef & my family none at all.

Still, it's not good for our beef industry who were enjoying record prices lately.

 

I own two restaurants and like my meat!

 

It's easy to have high rpices when you shout out most of your competition.

 

Abstinence is the only 100% effective defense

 

Looks like I'm sticking to veal.

 

Boy, I'm getting a massive case of schadenfreude right here. 6 months ago one case of mad cow here in Canada cause such a commotion in the US, you'd have thought entire herds were dropping like flies from it. Guess it's our turn to overreact now.

 

You do realize, I hope, that there really is no other kind of meat recall other than "voluntary"? http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/background/bkrecalls.htm. The meat industry is not required to comply with a USDA recommendation for a recall. And even when a recall occurs, the rate of recovery is only about 30%.

Because, you know, it's much more important that the USDA have the power to levy a fine for marketing an undersize potato than have the ability to mandate a recall of tainted food that could potentially kill you.

 

Officials were at pains to point out that the risk of an American actually contracting Mad Cow from an infected US source is slim. If you are eating muscle cuts of meat, scientifically, you are in no danger of contracting Mad Cow. The danger comes in when you consume brain matter, or other nerve tissue, which has not entered the food supply.

So, assuming that the government is telling the truth, there is no danger, but perception will severely hurt exports of meat.

 

You do realize that this quote will be taken out of context on the rivalry board, right?

 

I know that cow, he's crazy!

 

Veal is beef

 

Isn't there a version of it found in sheep as well that's exported into humans far more easily--it's just not as common because most people eat a lot more beef than mutton?

 

History has shown governments do not often tell the truth.

 

Yup. But it's milk-fed beef. Little chance the darlings are eating effed up brain matter from a cousin of theirs.

 

Well, you know what they say about assuming ...

That doesn't cover, however, your ground beef, sausages, hot dogs, etc., that grind up various parts of the cow, which may in fact include the at-risk parts. And places like McDonald's don't get the young healthy 2 year old cows ground up for their burgers - they get the old, cheap, no-longer-producing dairy cows, which are more at risk of having been exposed to the disease. Given how many McBurgers are eaten in this country, compared to how many t-bone steaks - do you still want to bet your life on what the industy-driven government mouthpiece says?

 

There may have been a few cases of it over the last couple years, with people getting the disease outside the country - not totally sure of that. You may also be thinking of Chronic Wasting Disease, which affects deer and has caused a few deaths in humans after they ate venison.

 

From what our friends at the Minnestoa FRAC say, veal is Mooo-Rific!!

 

Has the US outlawed the practice of rendering dead animals into livestock feed? If not, why?
What protections were put into place after the BSE outbreaks, first in England, than in Canada?

Various news reports were talking about how agri-business was fighting restrictions on what can be done with cattle who can't walk right, which is a sign of BSE.

Now I'm sticking with pork and chicken. Though supposedly you're okay if you stick with muscle cuts, and no ground beef or beef on the bone. But cross conmination is always possible... Seriously, though wouldn't it be better to prevent BSE from getting in the food supply, then dealing with it later? It's like saying it's okay to contaminate food with salmonella, because people should prepare it properly.

 

And as per the article, this particular cow was a "downer" - meaning he was unable to walk at the slaughterhouse. And although that mandated testing, it is obvious that it triggered no containment strategy or prohibition on slaughter, packaging and distribution - all of which happened even before the test results were received, apparently. Face facts - the outbreaks in England and elsewhere have had NO impact on safety measures here in the US. Clinton was slow to do anything to improve the situation (1997, I believe), and Bush has undone everything Clinton put in place.

 

That is scrapie. It doesn't have serious health implications though because it does not have the same effect on sheep as cattle.


The major precaution that was taken here that prevented more spread into humans was the moves made in 1989, which banned meat from certain areas, particularly the spinal cord, being used for human consumption. This was a very good move because then there was no evidence that it could be spread from cattle to humans (which was all but proven in 1996).

Fortunately these regulations have meant that although millions of cattle died from BSE in the UK, "only" 140 people have died from variant CJD (the human equivalent).

I think all these countries banning American beef (and the Canadian example before it) is an overreaction. It could be that these countries wanted to ban it anyway, since it helps their own producers and there are some concerns about the use of growth hormones (which is why there is little, if not none, American beef sold in UK).

Foot and mouth, even though it does not have the human health implication, is more serious since it is highly contagious and forces mass slaughter policies. BSE gets more attention since it makes good television to show a cow wobbling on its back legs and has a scary colloquial name.