Avoid Mad-Cow? I'd Rather Avoid Chicken..., page 1

Lowdown from a friend in Beef industry (cattle farmer) ;

Mad Cow Disease or BSE as it's known was discovered on a US farm on Dec 23. Since then it's subsequently been traced back to an Dairy operation from Alberta. Most of the importers of US beef immediately closed their doors to ANY beef imports after that.

We in Canada have been dealing with BSE crisis since a beef animal was found to have had it and was reported on May 20,2003. When that took place our border was closed to any exports or live or frozen-boxed beef. I hear that even if you had a Big Mac in your hands as you were crossing the border,the customs Nazis made you throw it out.

A little Biology before I go any further. BSE is a disease that's carried in what's called a prion (sp?) These prions show up in the cattle's brain,eyes,spinal cord and occasionaly the small intestine. So when those portions of the animal are removed from the carcass(which most of it is anyway)...there is zero chance of it being in with the beef. Further more animals UNDER 30 months of age have rarely contracted the disease,even in the UK where they had a massive BSE outbreak. Most animals that are processed for consumption are under 2 years of age. Combine this with the fact that there have only been 2 animals found out of MILLIONS of cattle in North America,and you have an infinitessimal chance of getting sick from eating BSE tainted meat.

I know there are 12 million bovine in Canada. I'm not sure of the latest numbers from the US,but it has to be in the area of 50 million or more! I will double check on that figure.
How does BSE infect cattle? Some think it's a mineral inbalance in the cattle,but most think the main proccess of infection is by way of cattle eating feed that has been tainted with the renderings of other ruminants. Meaning?...ruminants are animals with multi-stomachs;cattle,sheep,goats,any deer,elk or Caribou. When beef are killed,there are many by-products of processing......hides,bones,organs,fat,etc. A lot of this is rendered into dog or cat food,fish meat etc. But some of it like bone meal would be mixed in with animal feed. It provides a cheap,and readily available source or protien. This is fine for farm animals like Swine or birds (layers,broilers,turkeys etc.) but can cause problems when fed BACK to any ruminants. This is what caused the major outbreak in the UK. They were feeding the infected animal renderings back to the herd.
>>A HUGE no-no<<.

Here in Canada we have banned that process since 1997. That was 7 years ago,and while it's a good sign North America has been BSE-free since then,we still have a few years left before we can be sure things are under control. BSE has a very long incubation period. Some say 3 to 8 years...others say longer.
This has been a major crisis for beef producers in Canada. Beef prices plummeted after the announcement May 20th. Things picked up a bit and were creeping up to near break even levels. The US allowed Canada to export Boneless muscle cuts of beef under 30 months sometime this summer. This did help. But on Dec 23,things went back down again,as the source of the Dairy cow was found. Since then they have trickled up a bit for finished cattle and calves..but the Canadian cow trade is in the toilet. Where prices used to be $.60 -.70/lb. live weight,now they are $.10-.20. So on a 1200 lb. cow @ $.15 =$180. By the time we pay for trucking,sales yard fees,other various check-off fees..We're lucky to break even.
The North American beef trade is very integrated. Meaning there is much trade back and forth on different levels. Live finished cattle,calves,cull cows,Dairy cows/heifers/calves,bulls and semen,boxed beef,feed. I'm talking multi Billions of dollars in trade. The sooner we can get the borders opened,the better it is for everyone.
I know I've covered a LOT of ground here,and I've still left out a lot. But the point I really want to make is please DON'T be afraid to buy beef because of all this. Sometimes..oh hell...a LOT of times the media hype overblows things to levels where they normally wouldn't even be on the radar. This is one of those situations. If you and your family enjoyed beef before this,there should be no reason not to buy it now.

F.Y.I.