Safer Beef - New York Times

[Catchawave]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/13/opinion/13sat1.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print

I dropped this link on the "biologist" for an opinion in tonight's daily thread from hell, and asked *politely* for his/her opinion. Still waiting :(

Here's a snip:

Fears of another case of mad cow disease in the United States have faded for the time being because tests on the most recent suspect animal came back negative. But that is no reason to feel confident about the American beef supply. American cows still eat food that can potentially infect them with mad cow disease. American meatpackers use dangerous methods that other countries ban. And the United States Department of Agriculture does not require enough testing to ensure that American beef is completely safe.

U.S.D.A. officials and spokesmen for the meatpacking industry argue that the public is protected by current safety procedures. The chance of human infection is indeed very low - but the disease that mad cow induces in human is always fatal, so extreme caution is warranted. The Agriculture Department is hamstrung by its dual and conflicting mission: to promote the nation's meat industry and to protect the consumer. It's clear which is winning.

In April, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns suggested that the mad cow rules might even be relaxed to allow companies to sell some cows too sick to walk for use in human food. Instead of reacting to the confirmation of a case of mad cow in June by fixing the remaining loopholes in the system, Mr. Johanns announced that he had eaten beef for lunch.

Mad cow disease lurks in the animal's nervous system, and cows contract it by eating infected tissue. While cows are naturally herbivores, the beef industry turned them into cannibals by making meal ground from beef and beef bones a staple of the industrial cow's diet. In the wake of the British mad cow epidemic, the Food and Drug Administration banned beef and bone meal as cow feed.

cont'd at link.....

[LeftyMom]

1. good to know they're following the British model

"Instead of reacting to the confirmation of a case of mad cow in June by fixing the remaining loopholes in the system, Mr. Johanns announced that he had eaten beef for lunch." In the UK some ag minister fed his kid a burger on tv to prove how safe the food supply was. Who knew US politicians could be out photo-opped?

I just can't wait to see how many cases of termial brain rot is takes to take the problem seriously here.

:sarcasm:

[shockra]

2. Unfortunately...

It can take a lot of work to tell terminal brain rot from the brain rot of the average citizen. It's on a continuum.

[Nothing Without Hope]

3. I also posted on this NYT article - here is the thread in GD:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4344424
Thread title: MAD COW: NY Times op/ed says US industrial Beef is NOT safe to eat

I'm a cell biologist and I can tell you that the USDA is most definitely putting protection of the Big Beef industry way, way ahead of real concerns for protecting the public from BSE or other diseases. This article states this and calls for a new agency to oversee these issues - but of couse, under the Bush Admnistration's Robber Baron policy, this would never happen.

We have to protect ourselves by being very careful in what we eat and not trusting the promises of safety made by the USDA.

[Catchawave]

4. Hi Hope !!!!

What a wonderful thread that is ! I gave ya a kick and a recommend this morning, because it's a very serious issue which is being very intelligently discussed. A DU rarity on this subject, believe me!

Thank you for the head's up. I also posted a link to the Organic Consumers org, which is an activist group that gives the USDA a very hard time :) And yes, OCA must be a threat to BushCo if Consumer Freedom has them in their sights....LOL.

[Nothing Without Hope]

5. Hey Catch! Thanks so much for your comments, recommendation and

links contributed to that thread. The situation is really serious with the New York Times comes right out and says that while boneless roasts and steaks are "probably" safe to eat, the foods most likely to appeal to children - hamburger, taco fillings, hot dogs - are not. Even if it is an op/ed, this is a very strong stance.

The beef industry will doubtless fight it, as they have fought all kinds of regulations and the truth in general.