And you thought FEMA was a mess

November 4, 2005 10:44 PM

By the way...Americans may have eaten mad cow.
posted by soyjoy (65 comments total)

Officials say they believe the cow was positive for the disease because it ate contaminated feed before the U.S. banned ground-up cattle remains in cattle feed. Eighty-five percent of the hundreds of cattle that ate that same feed were in turn eaten by American consumers. Officials say the investigation was hampered by inadequate record-keeping.

(The mad cow in question is that one they forgot to tell us about for seven months and tried aggressively to block the test that wound confirming BSE)
posted by soyjoy at 10:45 PM on November 4, 2005

Boy. Glad I don't eat cows. By the way... nice use of the small tag.
posted by brundlefly at 10:46 PM on November 4, 2005

"The FDA, in its own assessment of what would happen in this country, said that by the time we find the first case in the US, we'll already be expecting another 300,000 more."

Of course, this was written in '98.
posted by dsword at 10:50 PM on November 4, 2005

What is the rate of contagion? How many people have to eat diseased beef before we get a case of Creutzfield-Jakob? Or is this just more BE SCARED! agitprop?

I am well aware that white folks is fucking up; I'd prefer to have hard data rather than fear-mongering to support my case, though.
posted by Eideteker at 10:59 PM on November 4, 2005

Boy. Glad I don't eat cows.

You said it. But if you eat fake cows, there is another madness you may have to deal with. A madness within.

Or.

That doesn't make sense.
posted by panoptican at 10:59 PM on November 4, 2005

It pisses me off that the US is so lax about BSE, yet spouts so much incredible BS about how impervious it's systems are.

It's wouldn't bother me if the US was actually taking BSE serious, and bragging about it. Nor would it bother me if the US was doing next to nothing, and admitted it was doing next to nothing and that it was the consumer's problem.
But doing next to nothing and outright lying about it is just annoying.

/Taking my chances with steak, but avoiding ground beef.
posted by -harlequin- at 11:05 PM on November 4, 2005

How many people have to eat diseased beef before we get a case of Creutzfield-Jakob?

Well, as with the cows themselves, if there were resultant human cases we might not know it because of similar odd recurring mistakes and inadequate record-keeping. If that's in fact what it is.
posted by soyjoy at 11:06 PM on November 4, 2005

Anyone who knows how, say, the FDA works with respect to ensuring the safety of our food knows how this story ends. If the US government ever acknowledged any single case of mad cow disease (vCJD) within the country, that would decimate domestic and international sales of American cattle and beef products. The people in charge can't let that happen, as that would be very bad for profit margins and campaign donations.
posted by Rothko at 11:16 PM on November 4, 2005

If I ever get sick by eating contaminated meat...make sure we all blame it on COSTCO...There is where I buy all my (the one that I get to eat) meat. To make sure that I have the correct source of spreading malades in this country (if that is the case.)
posted by CRESTA at 11:18 PM on November 4, 2005

I will try to confirm with links; meanwhile the following is from memory of various articles and the book Mad Cow USA.

* The incubation period is years - longer than FDA has been testing cattle for it and longer than the "feeding animals to animals" ban. There may be a wave of cases still developing from past infections.

* The "feeding animals to animals" ban is incomplete; cattle can get such feed indirectly. Also it is not enforced at all and depends on the consciences anda awareness of animal ranchers.

* Testing is still selective, unlike in other advanced countries where all cattle are tested.

* Tthe FDA is a "captive agency". Iit all about protecting the meat industry. Protecting the public is only P.R. by comparison (on preview, what Rothko said).

* There may be missed diagnoses, because of poor testing and diagnosis, or incorrect reporting - which may be knowing in many cases as soyjoy impliies.
posted by jam_pony at 11:23 PM on November 4, 2005

Ok, ok, hang on. I'm going to do vagus. No, no, listen, it'll be really funny. Ok? Ok. Here goes.

I, for one, welcome our new infectious protein structure overlords.

Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all week, folks.
posted by Eideteker at 11:25 PM on November 4, 2005

The current thinking on prion disease like bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or "mad cow," is that the risk of infection comes only from brain and spinal tissues. Recent studies hint that it may not be the case. Examples of other prion diseases like scrapie, in sheep milk, and chronic wasting disease in deer and elk urine don't bode well for current testing procedures. Nature.com did a good overview of prion diseases recently including Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.
posted by Helix80 at 11:38 PM on November 4, 2005

When you consider it takes as many as 10 years for the disease to incubate, and the lax standards that existed before anyone realized there was a problem, it is likely a number of us have eaten infected beef and are at risk ourselves. The scary thing is there isn't a damned thing we can do about it now.

But I'm not worried about Mad Cow Disease. We'll all die in the great bird flu pandemic long before we begin to lose our minds.

The funny thing is that the people hoarding Tamiflu for themselves will survive the flu, only to die in the chaos that follows.

OK, maybe that isn't funny.
posted by Seabird at 11:44 PM on November 4, 2005

Just eat the mad cow. You're impervious because you're ancestors where cannibals
posted by jouke at 12:01 AM on November 5, 2005

In the UK when the amount of infected beef that was eaten there should have been a lot more CJD deaths than there was; and there may be a possible answer why
posted by Samuel Farrow at 12:02 AM on November 5, 2005

jouke: snap - same paper - different angle.
posted by Samuel Farrow at 12:04 AM on November 5, 2005

Aren't many cases of CJD misdiagnosed as ALS? Well that's just one theory but I'm constantly reading about doctors who refuse to do autopsies on Alzheimer victims for fear of contracting CJD. There's no killing these prions and everything that touches them becomes infected.
posted by any major dude at 12:13 AM on November 5, 2005

AMD, misdiagnoses: probably so.

It's not a question of killing prions; they're not alive. They're just weirdly folded, defective proteins which cause normal proteins to go bad in a cascade effect.

It's not quite "everything that touches them becomes infected". It does have to be internal. Ingestion is enough.

Even when it was believed to be only nerve tissue, this did not exempt meat; in the slaughterhouse process spinal and brain tissue always gets in meat. But maybe meat can carry prions directly, too. Helix80, I didn't know about milk.

Mad Cow USA is available free online at http://prwatch.org/books/madcow.html. Per this book, bone also carries prions, and the gelatin process doesn't destroy them, so vegetarians who eat Jello or marshmallows are at risk too.

However: Thanks Samuel Farrow, that's encouraging.
posted by jam_pony at 12:38 AM on November 5, 2005

WE ARE ALL DOOMED. DOOMED!
posted by TwelveTwo at 12:39 AM on November 5, 2005

Oh, yes we have mad cow. All of the conditions that promote it have been in place in the U.S. for decades. BSE is a difficult clinical diagnosis to make and to be sure there are people here who have had it and been casually misdiagnosed with senile dementia. The Neurologists at the university hospital where I did my residency have been swearing off beef for several years now.

My pathology professor in med school, a stodgy old loveable man who speaks in a thick german accent related this in the middle of a lecture one day:
Two cows are casually grazing in a pasture. First cow says to the second "Have you heard about this new mad cow disease that's in the news?"
Second cow replies, "Why of course, you mean Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, I know all about it, why do you ask?"
"Well, aren't you worried about?"
"Of course not," says the second cow, "I'm a duck."
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 1:00 AM on November 5, 2005

... is it just me, or is the book 'Mad Cow USA' actually not available free online at the link above? Do you have to create an account to be able to read it?
posted by Lebannen at 2:30 AM on November 5, 2005

Why is that, in Texas, they use RFID tags on schoolkids before they use it to easily track cattle that could kill thousands of people?

Glad to see y'all got them priorities straight.
posted by Enron Hubbard at 4:31 AM on November 5, 2005

It pisses me off that the US is so lax about BSE, yet spouts so much incredible BS about how impervious it's systems are.

Just like FatherHomeland Security, disaster preparedness, healthcare, and everything else that Current Administration, Inc. touches. All of that pisses me off.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:56 AM on November 5, 2005

I am well aware that white folks is fucking up; I'd prefer to have hard data rather than fear-mongering to support my case, though.

Eideteker, does that "white folks is fucking up" comment have any logical connection whatsoever to this post, or is it merely a throwaway badge of your self-hating, high-horse liberal cynical persona that you've so carefully cultivated?

And, BTW, looking at this thread, am I the only one left who doesn't subscribe to the "racial comments are unforgivable...unless they're directed at white folk, in which case they are funny/meaningful/instant extreme left-wing cred" line, or did none of you notice what he wrote? Sorry to derail, but really, can you take the racial comments to the Stormfront discussion board?
posted by banishedimmortal at 6:45 AM on November 5, 2005

banishedimmortal, I'm just about as white as white can be. My ancestors were Jews from Eastern Europe, who came to the United States in the early 20th century to escape the pogroms. That said, fuck Whitey.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:01 AM on November 5, 2005

How nice to be of the non-cow-eating persuasion.
posted by killdevil at 7:02 AM on November 5, 2005

Sorry to derail

shut up.
posted by 3.2.3 at 7:51 AM on November 5, 2005

Great. First Peak Oil, now Mad Cow?

Guess I picked the wrong week to quit drinking.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:24 AM on November 5, 2005

Well what with GM crops being fed to animals and congress working to water down American standards for organic meat and dairy, I think it could be time to invest in a nice vegetarian cook book, if everyone cooked one or two veggie meals per week that would hit the food industry in a fairly big way.
posted by Lanark at 8:44 AM on November 5, 2005

Don't kid yourself, Jimmy. If a cow ever got the chance, he'd eat you and everyone you care about! (embedded wav)
posted by blue_beetle at 8:56 AM on November 5, 2005

I just became a vegetarian.
posted by punishinglemur at 9:05 AM on November 5, 2005

... is it just me, or is the book 'Mad Cow USA' actually not available free online at the link above? Do you have to create an account to be able to read it?

Sorry, it used to be there, I read it, now they've taken down the link. Try: http://www.uncommonthought.com/linked_files/mcusa.pdf
posted by jam_pony at 9:05 AM on November 5, 2005

I'd rather eat mad cow beef than be a vegetarian.
posted by gyc at 9:47 AM on November 5, 2005

*nervously eyeing ground beef for tonight's burgers.*
posted by papakwanz at 10:00 AM on November 5, 2005

punishinglemur: "I just became a vegetarian."

Then the media terrorists have already won.
posted by Eideteker at 11:07 AM on November 5, 2005

I'd rather eat mad cow beef than be a vegetarian.

you know, i've always found this attitude to be puzzling. why? really, why? i'm not an evangelical when it comes to vegetarianism--i always avoid trying to persuade people because i've witnessed the discussion always ending at this (in my opinion) baffling standoff. people will say, "yeah, i know i know all about all the problems, but i must have my tasty animal flesh." and i really don't get it. why on earth would you eat something that very likely could hurt you (and i don't necessarily just mean CJD, but also all the other hormones and crap that gets into meat produced for american consumption)?

really, can someone explain this desire for flesh, even in the face of obvious, documented problems with it? is it just like smoking or something, akin to addiction? what the heck?
posted by RedEmma at 11:08 AM on November 5, 2005

ah, scratch that. i probably just started a flamewar where i get hung out to dry for being sanctimonious. i should have stuck to my policy.

it's just that i really don't understand it. i quit meat ages ago, and i haven't missed it at all except when i smell the stuff smoking on a grill. but even that's not enough to drag me back. must have been that episode when several of my compadres got vomit-sick on a camping trip due to undercooked hamburger. ick.
posted by RedEmma at 11:20 AM on November 5, 2005

To be fair it's not like vegetarianism is a panacea. Protein does have a useful place in your body, along with fat.

Now to be fair I do agree that hormones are overused and the cattle/pork/chicken industries are run really, really badly in respect to the health of the animals and, ultimately, to the consumer.

I just have the unhappy situation of not being able to afford organic and/or superior quality meat. Ah well.
posted by Talanvor at 12:04 PM on November 5, 2005

I went vegetarian for a while, but I've started eating beef again.

And now I need to stop again.
posted by davejay at 12:39 PM on November 5, 2005

I just ate bacon, so I guess the being a vegetarian thing is off. But no beef!

Do pigs also have terrible diseases that they will give me?
posted by punishinglemur at 2:36 PM on November 5, 2005

Rothko,

" Anyone who knows how, say, the FDA works with respect to ensuring the safety of our food knows how this story ends."

Although I agree with your point, it's USDA that deals with food safety, and not the FDA.
posted by AccidentalHedonist at 3:24 PM on November 5, 2005

Do pigs also have terrible diseases that they will give me?

Yeah, probably. Such is life, and the persistence thereof.
posted by jenovus at 3:25 PM on November 5, 2005

RedEmma:

The reason I keep eating meat is this: I believe it is more healthy for me than not eating meat.

I don't think one needs much meat in order to have a healthy diet; and I think an excess of meat is more harmful than a complete lack of meat.

I do not eat much meat, and that meat I eat is generally of higher quality (organic, open range), small portions, and isn't on my plate every day.
posted by five fresh fish at 5:02 PM on November 5, 2005

Do pigs also have terrible diseases that they will give me?

Trichinosis.
posted by skoosh at 5:14 PM on November 5, 2005

Dammit!

Hopefully I'll just have the shits for a few months.

Unless I die.

I'm never eating again.
posted by punishinglemur at 8:52 PM on November 5, 2005

AccidentalHedonist, while the USDA is clearly the more intensive crony-dumping-ground/industry-sock-puppet and deals with more parts of this situation than the FDA, the latter agency is also involved here, e.g. they regulate cattle feed, and are responsible for the "firewall" feed ban that still to this day contains numerous and remarkable loopholes.

Also, came across this:

Japan on Friday rebuffed Washington's demands that Tokyo ease its terms for lifting a ban on U.S. beef imports, imposed two years ago due to fears of mad cow disease.

Remember that this trade ban was loudly touted as thisclose to being lifted, according to the USDA, almost exactly one year ago (that's right - just before the 2004 election!).

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns had earlier insisted that cows younger than 30 months are scientifically considered safe from mad cow disease, and can be imported. Japan wants to set the limit at 21 months.

"The science is very, very clear that in animals under 30 months, you just don't have a (mad cow disease) problem," [USDA chief Mike] Johanns said Thursday.

Flat-out lie much? Johanns knows no one is fact-checking this very basic question:

2003: Japan reports eighth case of mad cow disease in 23-month-old Holstein

In fact, more than 20 cows under this age have tested positive worldwide, including one as young as 20 months in the United Kingdom.

Or if Johanns isn't lying... how many documented under-30-months Mad Cows do turn this into "a problem?"
posted by soyjoy at 11:18 PM on November 5, 2005

banishedimmortal, I'm just about as white as white can be. My ancestors were Jews from Eastern Europe, who came to the United States in the early 20th century to escape the pogroms. That said, fuck Whitey.

Faint of Butt: Your honorable ancestors must be tickled to have escaped racist persecution so that they could spawn an ignorant, racist piece of shit such as yourself. Good show, honestly!! May you rot in your own hatred. Sincerely, banished.
posted by banishedimmortal at 11:55 PM on November 5, 2005

You're doin' a good job, Mikey.



I don't like this post. Too much of a downer, and it makes me think I ate the contaminated beef. But I probably didn't. But maybe I did. I'm going to pour water in my ears to see if my brain is now sponge and record myself walking down the hall to see if I ambulate with an uncertain gait. It is my understanding that doctors do the same thing, so this means big savings, just like when I saved a shitload of money by purchasing beef in massive 100 pound garbage bags off the back of a beat-up pickup. The bits of spinal cord were worth the rock-bottom price.

I'm writing this now and I think it's pretty spiffy but when I read it tomorrow afternoon I'll be scared shitless. So I'm never opening this post again just to be on the safe side. And I'm definitely never doing a Google search on "BSE," because the CDC page I found almost caused me to pass out from terror. When the number of words I understand is less than the number I don't, I know it's time to take to the hills. ...

... At least that's what I was thinking until I found: the rest of the story. For those looking for a truly unbiased source I recommend BSEInfo.org, where you will learn:

Regardless of how the beef is produced, you can be assured the beef you eat is safe from BSE. Research shows that BSE is not found in beef muscle, where steaks, roasts and ground beef come from; therefore, all U.S. beef – organic and conventional – is safe and wholesome.

Oh! Now I feel better.
posted by punishinglemur at 12:24 AM on November 6, 2005

On a dead... serious note, if I were to sit down and eat a nice fat burger that had brain matter from a BSE-infected cow in it, what are the chances I would be turned into a demented spongy mess?
posted by punishinglemur at 12:25 AM on November 6, 2005

Copyright © 2005 Cattlemen's Beef Board & National Cattlemen's Beef Association. All Rights Reserved.
posted by Rothko at 2:10 AM on November 6, 2005

Oh c'mon, being a "demented spongy mess" ain't that bad. MOO!
posted by davy at 8:08 AM on November 6, 2005

Rothko, I think it was pretty clear punishinglemur was alredy being ironic about that "truly unbiased source," but in case anyone believes the "no BSE in muscle meat" claim, there is this:

One assumption lies at the root of efforts to keep the meat we eat safe from mad cow disease: that tissues beyond an animal's brain, spinal cord and immune system are free of the prions that cause the disease.

A disturbing study now shows that assumption to be false. Researchers have found that if an animal falls ill with another infection, its immune response can carry large numbers of prions to organs throughout its body.

The point of all this, though, is not to scare punishinglemur or anyone else into vegetarianism - hell, there's ways vegetarians can contract vCJD as well.

The point is that the USDA continues to show amazing arrogance in weighing Americans' safety against the short-term profits of their beef-industry cronies, not just in terms of Mad Cow but everything having to do with the cattle industry, and most Americans could care less. If these outrageous documented abuses of the public trust don't motivate anyone to do something about supporting this unbelievably corrupt and dangerous system, I don't know what could.
posted by soyjoy at 9:59 AM on November 6, 2005

I have a simple metric for judging people's intelligence:

If they think BSE-infected meat has not entered the American diet, or if they think the USDA has been at all effective in early identification and prevention of the BSE threat, they are hopelessly stupid beyond all repair.

Honestly.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:21 AM on November 6, 2005

The reason I keep eating meat is this: I believe it is more healthy for me than not eating meat.

i'm glad you're eating healthy meat, at least, and understand that it's not the center of a healthy diet. my issue really is with the rather bizarre idea that one would rather eat BSE laced meat than be a vegetarian. i'm not going to get into an argument with you about the health issues, but i will note that i disagree, overall (when including production issues and nutrition) that one needs meat.

as a vegan, also i would point out to whoever it was above that said it is all about getting enough protein and fat--i get enough of both, thank you, without a trace of animal flesh or product in my diet:

Protein

It is very easy for a vegan diet to meet the recommendations for protein as long as calorie intake is adequate. Strict protein planning or combining is not necessary. The key is to eat a varied diet.

Almost all foods except for alcohol, sugar, and fats are good sources of protein. Vegan sources include: potatoes, whole wheat bread, rice, broccoli, spinach, almonds, peas, chickpeas, peanut butter, tofu, soy milk, lentils, kale...

...

Fat

Vegan diets are free of cholesterol and are generally low in fat. Thus eating a vegan diet makes it easy to conform to recommendations given to reduce the risk of major chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. High-fat foods, which should be used sparingly, include oils, margarine, nuts, nut butters, seed butters, avocado, and coconut.

[all from a link for vegans.]

but please, i'm probably stepping in it. i really really don't want to turn this thread into the terribly tired debate over meat vs. veg. i just get so weirded out by being surrounded by people who simply *cannot* imagine meat not being the center of their eating life, even to the point of eating possible poison (albeit poison that doesn't show its consequence for years and years)... or otherwise intelligent people to whom an "i'm vegan" comment leads to "well, what do you eat, then?" and a tiresome discussion in which i bite my tongue to the point of pain while s/he blathers on in illogical loops about meat and how s/he knows plenty of vegan/vegetarian poor eaters. (well duh.)

i realize it's the dominant culture, i just find it puzzling sometimes. bizarre.

also, there are an awful lot of people who *can* afford to eat organic meat, but don't. what's their reasoning? it's very possible that if all the people who could afford it would buy it, the price of its production would probably go down. (yes, i realize this idea has been debated.)
posted by RedEmma at 12:05 PM on November 6, 2005

and BTW, being a vegetarian is cheaper than eating meat. always has been, always will be--unless you hunt.
posted by RedEmma at 12:10 PM on November 6, 2005

I have found that moderation is the key to a healthy life. I have yet to discover anything which, taken to an extreme, does not cause harm to one's life.

Veganism is definitively not a moderate approach to diet, and thus can not be the most healthy diet.

Everything about the human body indicates that it favours an omnivorous diet. In short, we are meant to eat meat just as we are meant to eat carrots and apples.

Will your veganism kill you? Probably not.

Meanwhile, I shall continue with my moderate meat-eating habits and continue to live healthy. Best of luck to you in your effort to do the same, RedEmma. Now quit ranting.
posted by five fresh fish at 1:06 PM on November 6, 2005

and yet i cant open a newspaper without hearing about bird flu, the next great epidemic.
posted by Miles Long at 3:27 PM on November 6, 2005

Veganism is definitively not a moderate approach to diet, and thus can not be the most healthy diet.

well, i guess you can take it up with my partner's doctor, a very moderate and non-leftist Minnesotan man who has said exactly the opposite, in fact--i quote: "well, that's about the best diet you could have." along with the fact that lots of other people disagree with you, i wonder how you can be so sweeping in your dismissal, seemingly simply because it's "radical," i.e. not usual.

i mean, i'll admit i used to feel sort of the same way. vegans were extreme, and the one i knew well looked pale and thin and weak and i didn't want to be anything like HIM... (turns out, he was always that way, even with hamburger stuck in his teeth.) i also couldn't imagine my life without cheese--and will still occasionally "cheat" for a good chunk of gouda. (i'm by no means an absolutist.) but i have found that i'm eating vastly better than i ever have. the lack of animal products is incidental to that, nutritionally. and believe me, there is nothing lacking in my diet whatsoever, including B12.

really, was i ranting?
posted by RedEmma at 5:14 PM on November 6, 2005

No, you weren't ranting. I didn't want to get swept up in this discussion, but this one comment is so absurd I can't ignore it:

Veganism is definitively not a moderate approach to diet, and thus can not be the most healthy diet.

FFF, please provide the logic and/or stats to back this up or admit that it's rank nonsense.

What's the healthiest amount of poisons to eat? A lot? No, that's extreme. A little? Maybe. None at all? No way, man, that's extreme, "not moderate," and therefore can't possibly be the healthiest. Right?

"Moderation in all things" is a misnomer. How many of us outside of the Bush administration approve of only "moderate" amounts of torture - or only "moderate" lying to the public about the reasons for war? There are plenty of things for which moderation is not the best way to go.

Look, most Americans who aren't in the throes of eating disorders or the Atkins diet consider themselves to be following "a moderate approach to diet." Yet the Standard American Diet is actually about as extreme as you can get compared to the rest of the world's population. As you know, I commend you for any consciousness and/or attempt to move away from the all-animal-protein-all-the-time imperative of Western culture. But there's no reason to throw in these unsupported blanket generalizations.
posted by soyjoy at 5:40 PM on November 6, 2005

Vegan diet is a modern invention and is simply not sustainable without very modern science, including the introducing artificial sources of Vitamin B12 into the diet, among other problems. This is your "moderate" diet? I think not.

Man is meant to eat meat. Period: the facts are built into the body.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:50 PM on November 6, 2005

And you know what? I don't give a fuck what you eat. Why the hell are you so upset about what I eat? Jesus. Someone asks why anyone would eat meat, I give my answer, and next think you know a bunch of vegans are chewing out my ass. Gahd.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:53 PM on November 6, 2005

Huh? Who's upset here? You're the one who's huffing and puffing, swearing and blustering with nothing backing up your assertions.

The what-were-we-originally-intended-to-eat debate is virtually insoluble, but its also irrelevant. In a world that's now pervaded with man-made toxins to ever more disturbing extremes, insisting on consuming these poisons in the most concentrated form possible - on the theory that humans are "meant to eat meat" - is simply bizarre.
posted by soyjoy at 10:19 PM on November 6, 2005

So, my question is this: as a fairly average American, I've eaten quite a bit of beef. Alot really. Let's be conservative, and estimate that I've eaten something on the order of a half ton to an entire ton of beef in my life. For the sake of argument, lets say it's highly likely that i've been exposed to BSE, and those nasty prions. How likely am I (a random, average individual) to develop vCJD?
posted by Freen at 12:32 AM on November 7, 2005

Americans may have eaten mad cow.

Of course we have.
posted by agregoli at 8:12 AM on November 7, 2005

Trichinosis.

Fortunately, you can kill the trichinella cysts by cooking pork to a mere 145°, a perfect medium-rare.

I wish someone had told my mother this way back when, which would have prevented a childhood full of pork chops cooked to the consistency of roofing shingles, a childhood in which I thought I didn't like pork. (Perish the thought!)
posted by chuq at 3:19 PM on November 7, 2005