Comments on: Mad Cow USA

Mad Cow USA

woil — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 14:28:40 -0800

After reading that beef has been recalled from my local grocery store, I spent some time reading Mad Cow USA a book written back in 1997 but not widely published because of fears of repercussions under the Texas food disparagement act. AlterNet has an article written by one of the book's authors summarizing some of the key points of the book. Some claim that only ground beef is infected, while others claim that's bull. mad-cow.org has a lot of good information on the topic, and it seems the powers that be are going to blame Canada.

By: soyjoy

soyjoy — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 14:43:31 -0800

woil, that last link (FindLaw) is a good one, but a lot of it is already superseded:The U.S. has just banned Downer cows from the food supply, which conveniently means no more downer cows need to be tested.

By: elpapacito

elpapacito — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 15:30:19 -0800

Just a need for clarification: what's the definition of downer cow ? a) a cow that can't stand on her legs so it's slaugheted, regardless of the reason of her inability to stand b) a MCD infected cow ? If a) is the definition, not allowing downer cow in production chain could be just the tip of the iceberg, as maybe cows still on their legs may still be infected, yet not sick enough and still standing.

By: bshort

bshort — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 15:34:39 -0800

elpapacito: excellent observation. One would think the USDA would be able to reach the same conclusion.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 16:08:47 -0800

there's a texas food disparagement act, but no texan citizen disparagement act?

By: shadow45

shadow45 — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 16:39:02 -0800

--Prohibiting air injection stunning of cattle, a pre-slaughter practice that can disperse brain tissue Mmm, i'm hungry. who wants hamburgers?

By: Postroad

Postroad — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 17:13:57 -0800

Asisso often the case,scienehad a way to avoid Mad Cow Disease and the govtignored it! for which, see http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20031230/sc_nm/madcow_treatment_dc_1

By: yeoz

yeoz — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 18:24:58 -0800

After reading halfway through the Mad Cow USA book,...
I've decided that I am never ever going to eat meat ever again.

By: MrLint

MrLint — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 18:28:12 -0800

postrad : Im not clear how this 'treatment' method is of any value. heat and pressure turn meat into not so tasty paste. In addition the whole protein does not have to be in tact to cause prion disease. i wrote a reply elsewhere about prions. Take a look.

By: elpapacito

elpapacito — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 19:21:45 -0800

I'm reading the book linked in the topic. Interesting, indeed. Oh and if you think it's a boring read (quite the contrary it's enjoyable) you may just want to know that "the HighLanders ..customary greeting was a standing embrace in which both men and women handled each others genitals". Yeah you learn the wickest things by reading. Wanna know more ? Read book.

By: namespan

namespan — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 19:22:46 -0800

We'd strongly prefer you not discuss it. (and if you do, it'll only cost you a million bucks)

By: soyjoy

soyjoy — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 20:56:54 -0800

mad-cow.org has a lot of good information on the topic True - I looked for, and found, the 1999 study that led all reasonable neurological scientists to acknowledge the BSE-nvCJD link as proven (which the beef industry's friends are now claiming it's not) - but that page only goes up to April 2001. After that it was handed off to Michael Greger. The current page of Mad Cow news is here. Some might call the style "overkill," but that's appropos, because, well, so is Mad Cow.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 21:05:59 -0800

"the HighLanders ..customary greeting was a standing embrace in which both men and women handled each others genitals". So, that's why he's called Sgt. Serenity.

By: nofundy

nofundy — Wed, 31 Dec 2003 05:24:24 -0800

As I understand there have been bills (or parts of bills) in Congress the past two years designed to remedy the loopholes that allowed mad cow to get into the food supply but special interests and the politicians they own prevented them becoming law. Anyone got links? I want names! Why won't the media give us names of those politicians complicit in allowing this to happen? Whoring for an industry should make front page news in this situation!

By: holycola

holycola — Fri, 02 Jan 2004 10:12:30 -0800

The author of the CNN article is playing a titch loose with her facts: DNA testing is still under way to confirm that the cow came from Canada. That said, I'm not seeing as much of a 'blame canada' attitude coming from US officials this time around (unlike last spring). Realizing that the production and markets are tightly integrated, and that their own policies have failed to protect the food supply from the incredibly small risk that MCD presents to humans, the US officials have taken steps to change their own ways instead of just finger pointing. Sure, there's national embarassment for Canada should the cow indeed have come from Canada, but at least we are seeing more cooperation than recrimination, and that's heartening.