What's new

Mad Cow in U.S. (1 Viewer)

Shayne Lebrun

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 17, 1999
Messages
1,086
Quote:
Not that I want to start a fight on Christmas Eve, but why?
Well, when the Canadian case went public, America made a huge show of refusing to buy our beef for 'public safety.'

Within hours of an *American* case going public, White House press people were on CNN claiming that it's not really a problem, nothing to worry about, and so on.

So why is Canadian MCD a public threat, but American MCD nothing to worry about?

That's the idea behind the sentiment here.
 

Ted Todorov

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2000
Messages
3,706
It seems that best way to prevent the occurence of Mad Cow disease and it's human form (CJD) is to stop feeding animals meant for human consumption animal protein. Those who keep resisting this change for fear of lost profits stand to lose so much more money when half the world bans beef imports from the US and probably beef consumption domestically takes a nosedive as well. The consequences of this can be very long lasting: the UK's beef exports still haven't recovered...

Also, the idea that "downer" cattle -- i.e. cattle too sick to be able to stand up or walk, goes into our food supply is very scary. Apparently such cattle are banned from the school lunch program, but not from your local supermarket. The Mad Cow in question was a "downer", but got slaughtered for beef anyway...

Ted
 

Robert Crawford

Crawdaddy
Moderator
Patron
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 9, 1998
Messages
67,604
Location
Michigan
Real Name
Robert
Lets not make this a Canadian versus American issue, otherwise, I'll close this thread down faster than you can say "Happy Holidays".





Crawdaddy
 

Shayne Lebrun

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 17, 1999
Messages
1,086
It's not a matter of spite, it's a matter of sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander.

It's not about tit for tat, or retribution; it's about when you're playing with the other kids, if you don't play nice, people aren't going to play nice with you. If the roles were reversed; the States had the first infection, and Canada started going off on them, then Canada got a case, I'd be all for America responding to Canada in kind, and that's as a Canadian.
 

Robert Crawford

Crawdaddy
Moderator
Patron
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 9, 1998
Messages
67,604
Location
Michigan
Real Name
Robert
It's not about tit for tat, or retribution; it's about when you're playing with the other kids, if you don't play nice, people aren't going to play nice with you. If the roles were reversed; the States had the first infection, and Canada started going off on them, then Canada got a case, I'd be all for America responding to Canada in kind, and that's as a Canadian.
The countdown has begun.




Crawdaddy
 

Steve_Tk

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2002
Messages
2,833
I just ate a huge hamburger! 1 out of 1 million? Screw those odds. I have a better chance of being murdered, seeing as 7/100,000 people in GA are murdered each year, equalling about 600 a year.
 

LewB

Screenwriter
Joined
Feb 11, 2002
Messages
1,282
Quote:
Those who keep resisting this change for fear of lost profits stand to lose so much more money when half the world bans beef imports from the US and probably beef consumption domestically takes a nosedive as well. The consequences of this can be very long lasting: the UK's beef exports still haven't recovered...
Not to worry, they'll do what any other lousy businessman with a lobby group does. Call on the federal government for bail out money and loan guarantees; plus don't forget that there is too much government so let's pull the teeth from the Ag dept.
Who are they to say what people can and can not eat !!

Rib roast for your holiday feast, anyone ? Ho Ho Ho !
 

SteveCop

Agent
Joined
Feb 25, 2000
Messages
32
All this talk about beef.....I'm getting hungry! Think I'll go out tomorrow and get the biggest rib-eyes I can find and cook 'em up nice & juicy on the charcoal grill. :D
 

Yee-Ming

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2002
Messages
4,502
Location
"on a little street in Singapore"
Real Name
Yee Ming Lim
Humph. Around here apparently they banned beef from any BSE-infected country, e.g. UK, for 6 years after its last known case. Applying that principle they've just banned US beef.

Apparently Morton's is now awaiting further instructions from headquarters. If Morton's decides US beef or nothing, it is going to be very very annoying if I can't go to Morton's for the next 6-7 years; not that I go very often, maybe once a year, but their steaks really are something else.

I wonder if the Aussies do a reasonable substitute in beef?
 

andrew markworthy

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 30, 1999
Messages
4,762
I didn't realise this until I read the news yesterday, but apparently the UK is apparently not doing anything about banning US beef because a lot of US beef exports are already banned (something about growth hormones used by a lot of US farmers).
 

Carlo_M

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 31, 1997
Messages
13,385
Yes Andrew, a lot of farmers here use the growth hormones as a way to either fatten cows quicker for the slaughter, or other variant of hormones to get them to produce more milk (i.e. slaughter cows vs. milking cows).

Personally, I do most of my meat shopping at Whole Foods which gets their milk and beef from non-BGH cows (bovine growth hormones).

I am somewhat literate on Mad Cow Disease (spongiform encephalitis, CJD, vCJD) having read a few books a few years back. Deadly Feasts is probably the best of the bunch, its name is somewhat "scare tactic" but it was written in a fairly scientific manner. While it is a horrible disease, spread through very bad farming habits, the feared widespread attack of it has, to now, failed to materialize.

There are farming practices that need to be examined and cleaned up in order for us to make beef and milk safer to consume (not just mad cow, but also effects of BGH treated cows - both for their meat and milk).

BTW, I believe the natural instance of mad cow is one in a million, so this one cow may be a natural occurance vs. an indicator of an epidemic.

Time will tell.
 

Carlo_M

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 31, 1997
Messages
13,385
Okay this is a really frightening addendum:

From the NY Times website today (requires free membership so I'll quote the scary passage):
Quote:
The government is trying to find the herd the cow was raised with, since the cow likely was sickened several years ago from eating feed made partly from an infected cow. The incubation period in cattle is four to five years, said Dr. Stephen Sundlof of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This is scary because I thought the use of downer cattle (i.e. cattle that "fell down" and died - these were then ground up and fed back to the living cows as the "meat and bone meal" was high in protein) was one of the worst farming practices and best ways to spread mad cow disease. Britain outlawed the practice after the outbreak of mad cow. I had hoped the U.S. would follow suit but apparently has not.

I am more alarmed now than I was earlier...

EDIT:

Further in the article:
Quote:
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said the recall was an extra precaution.

But the government came under criticism on two fronts. John Stauber, the author of ``Mad Cow U.S.A.,'' said the U.S. hasn't done enough to keep BSE out of the country.

Cattle get sick by eating feed that contains tissue from the brain and spine of infected animals. The United States has banned such feed since 1997.

``Here's the problem, the feed ban has been grossly violated by feed mills,'' Stauber said in a telephone interview from his home in Madison, Wis.

In one such case, X-Cel Feeds Inc., of Tacoma, Wash., admitted in a consent decree in July that it violated FDA regulations designed to prevent the possible spread of the disease.

Agriculture officials said that only two out of some 1,800 firms are not in compliance with the ban, a significant improvement since 1997.

Stauber also said he believes the ban is ineffective because it exempts blood from cattle, which Stauber said could transmit mad-cow type diseases. Government officials and industry executives have said there is no evidence that animals can be infected from the blood of other animals. Thank god. But sad to see that it took until 1997 for us to ban it, since the outbreak in Britain predated that.

Here's the link to the NYTimes article.
 

Carlo_M

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 31, 1997
Messages
13,385
An unfortunate addendum - MSNBC just announced that the cow was born in 1999, and was probably infected by "downer cattle" feed - which means that despite the practice being banned in 1997, it still happens.

The cow was a milking cow before it was slaughtered. There is no 100% proof either way that I have read, which states if mad cow disease can or cannot be spread through milk (this was as of a few years ago when I read Deadly Feasts).
 

LewB

Screenwriter
Joined
Feb 11, 2002
Messages
1,282
Quote:
An unfortunate addendum - MSNBC just announced that the cow was born in 1999, and was probably infected by "downer cattle" feed - which means that despite the practice being banned in 1997, it still happens.

Remember that nothing is illegal until you get caught !

IMHO, those involved in providing banned feed should be heavily fined and jailed. Anyone know what the penalty is ?
 

LewB

Screenwriter
Joined
Feb 11, 2002
Messages
1,282
Quote:
In one such case, X-Cel Feeds Inc. of Tacoma, Wash., admitted in a consent decree in July that it violated FDA regulations designed to prevent the possible spread of the disease.

I clipped this from an article on MSNBC. Seems the 'ban' against using 'downer cattle feed' has a few loopholes. :angry: :angry: :angry:

Nice that we have all these regulations to protect us but no one really follows them. I'll bet it's because you make more money by breaking the law and just paying the puny fine if you get caught.
In this case, where public safety is involved, I'd vote for a punishment that doesn't fit the crime. Millions of dollars in fines and mandatory CEO imprisonment !
 

Jason GT

Second Unit
Joined
Dec 12, 2002
Messages
452
No CEOs here Lew. Just farmers.

It is a real unfortunate reality that people so irresponsibly cut corners to make a buck, but that's a way that society is often turning. yes it sucks.

For a bit of perspective, there was a huge deal recently about an Ontarian slaughterhouse which was cutting up predeceased cows for consumption (not even "downers"). You always hope that these cases are isolated but it seems that some will never have a limit when it comes to making a buck. :/
 

Carlo_M

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 31, 1997
Messages
13,385
Quote:
It is a real unfortunate reality that people so irresponsibly cut corners to make a buck, but that's a way that society is often turning. yes it sucks. Agreed, and consumers have to shoulder at least some of the blame. With people always shopping for the lowest cost deal, is it any wonder that meat producers are stooping to low standards in order to make beef cheaper?

Up until a few years ago, I would always go to Ralphs or Albertsons and look for the lowest priced meats. I hardly ever went to Whole Foods or a similar store that advertised "free range" cattle or organic meat because they cost a bit more. But now I realize that everything comes with a price. For those farming the right way, the beef will cost more. The last couple of years I've bought my beef from Whole Foods or other places that advertise free range or organic beef. Sure it costs more, but that's my piece of mind.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Forum statistics

Threads
356,814
Messages
5,123,738
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top