Just wondering with all the BSE talk in the UK , if Johnny Public in the US was bothered?

I haven't eaten beef since BSE was first mentioned here years back.

By the time the UK had announced BSE as an infectious disease to the general public we'd all been eating potentially infected beef for years. I fully intend to take advantage of deflated beef prices over here.

The bigger question is whether the US Govt. is going to allow me to donate blood now.

Just wondering with all the BSE talk in the UK , if Johnny Public in the US was bothered?

Personally, I am looking forward to some lower beef prices in the short run.

In epidemiologic terms, I view this in terms of YPLL (years of preventable life lost -- maybe "lucidity lost" in this case). At age 51, with a generally long incubation/onset for CJD (combined with the fact that many friends think I exhibit symptoms already!), I figure I have very little to worry about in the event that I hit the BSE un-jackpot (that one-in-a-million cow).

If I were a lot younger (or were deciding what to feed children) I would probably take a more cautious approach until the extent of the problem is more clearly understood. I will probably avoid burgers, though, in favor of chicken sandwiches for now, but those cheap rib-eyes are *mine*.

Oh, and in keeping with my new-found conversion to all things Bush, I suggest we abolish the FDA and put our faith in the beef industry!

Has it been a major story then? Is there talk of mass slaughtering of herds like the UK saw? Its now looking like the cow came from Canada and not the US, so is Canada doing anything about it?

You'd have thought after the BSE scare over here that lessons would be learnt... why were they still feeding cows to other cows?

From an objective and non-reactionary view, the chances of getting the disease are so small it is not even worth thinking about, and certainly the scope of the problem here is miniscule compared to the UK's past problems. It won't affect my eating habits, since there is a million things more likely to kill me, including the heart attack I am begging for by eating more beef.

But it could dramatically affect the US beef industry. I know the odds of infection are tiny, but tell that to Japan and other countries with a ban on your beef.

I just hope George Bush doesn't grab a young child and force her to eat beef on TV like John Gummer.

You'd have thought after the BSE scare over here that lessons would be learnt... why were they still feeding cows to other cows?

The FDA did put rules into place in 1997 to prevent this. Problem is, the disease has such a long period of time where it lies dormant, it could have caught it from one of the last cow based meals in 1997.

Personally, I'm not too worried about it. I will watch the news carefully to see if they find other cases of it. Then I might be a bit concerned. At least living here in the midwest though gives me a good choice in beef products, including some from farms I could drive to to ask questions about the feed the animals have gotten over the years.

Thats the good thing about some US farms (like a lot in Scotland) - you know what your getting, and you know how they've been fed, killed, processed. Its a shame factory farming seems to be destroying these family businesses.

You guys eating beef?

It's not slowing me down... The NY strip at dinner yesterday was pretty awesome. As others have said, the lower beef prices will be welcome.

However, the press here is making quite a big deal of it, but Washington State is an awful long ways away. Surely that beef wouldn't end up here at practically the opposite end of the country.

Surely that beef wouldn't end up here at practically the opposite end of the country.

It might, if you eat out quite a bit. Resturaunts and fast food chains might ship their meet all across the country, getting what deals they can in markets farther away to justify the shipping costs.

I just got a George Forman grill for Christmas, so I'll be buying a more meet at the store. And there, I can see the labels showing where the meet came from.

Moo.

It has not changed my eating habits at all.

I would not doubt that you will see massive destruction of any tainted beef or of any herds that were exposed. But I think it is also a matter of percentage - there are a lot more cattle in the US compared to the UK. It will be more contained. Plus, a lot of time has gone by since the UK outbreak, and there are better procedures for containing and tracking the problem.

I just got a George Forman grill for Christmas

My younger brother says those are awesome! He was bragging about it a year ago.

And there, I can see the labels showing where the meet came from.

Good point, I may tell the wife to make sure she looks at the label on the meat before she purchases.

I just hope George Bush doesn't grab a young child and force her to eat beef on TV like John Gummer.

Er... that was his daughter so doubly bad!

I don't eat beef in any great quantities except in meatballs or frankfurters etc. but since even gelatine is supposed to be a theoretical carrier I don't think I am at any less risk than somebody who eats it every day.

I read a story in the paper about a CJD victim and apparently he didn't eat much meat, so it could just be a question of luck. I guess anybody except the strictest vegans are at risk.

edit: this is the article.

Gareth

Its now looking like the cow came from Canada and not the US, so is Canada doing anything about it?

Yeah, we're exporting the cows to the US, and letting them deal with it.

Not to mention that the one bad cow we had (none of which ever was sold as food) may have originally come from the USA..

*sigh* First they try to blame the power failure on us. Then they try to blame the insane cow posse on us. What's next? I mean... come on America -- South Park was just a movie. No need to have taken one song so literally!

Same here, it won't affect me. Unfortunately the news didn't affect meat prices in time for our Christmas feast in which the star player is a lovely tenderloin roast. It is without a doubt the bet meat I have ever tasted, but the price was far higher this year than in the past (we get the same gut every year for Christmas).

That's why I wouldn't worry about the beef market. It has been enjoying a large amount of popularity as a result of the recent fad in low-carb/high-protein diets. This might not even level that out. But prices should fall a bit.

I work in a grocery store currently, and found that our beef does come from Washington! Yay! At my work we are anticipating that although the Atkins craze will continue, people will switch more to chicken and pork, causing the prices ot them to rise, while beef should fall. This is just the speculation in the business here though.

I personally enjoyed some nice juicy burgers last night made from beef bought at my store. Yum! I highly doubt it will change how much beef I eat in the long run.

As you're aware the mad cow disease was all over europe last summer, causing the price beef to drop. I took the chance to fill the freezer with cheap meat.
As i understood the disease it's only a problem if you eat the cows brain, and the marrow in a t-bone steak. I've done that once many years back, decided that i really didn't care for the taste of marrow, and never done it since. I mean how many of you eat the marrow in the bone ? And if you do that, then you might be at risk.

I my eyes, the media is yet again overhyping the problem.

\\Kaare

I don't eat beef in any great quantities except in meatballs or frankfurters etc. but since even gelatine is supposed to be a theoretical carrier I don't think I am at any less risk than somebody who eats it every day.

Meatballs and frankfurters (store bought ones at least) likely carry a higher BSE risk than a good steak. The process of "mechanical recovery" of meat used in meat balls and the like means you are far more likely to end up with the BSE infectious agent in the resulting "meat" than with a steak.

Its how the meat is attained that would be the problem. A nice big juicy steak should have no BSE at all - even if the cow was infected, but if the guys just been hacking at it with a big dirty chainsaw - through the spine, then through your steak - then theres a higher risk of BSE.

Like Andy says, your supermarket products like kebabs, meatballs etc may not be the best things to eat!

I know I made the most of "mad cow" here in the UK by eating lots of cheap (some of it very, very cheap), purely grass fed Scottish beef.

When you think what some parts of the livestock industries get up to, it is no wonder we end up with things like BSE

Like I said in this thread somewhere, some Scottish farms here - and I'm sure they exist all over the world - are traditional, family owned farms which I would trust. You can go and see how the cows are kept - natural food, no cramped conditions, not pumped with drug etc.

But just watching some undercover TV shows make me feel quite sick.

On a slightly different note, there was a story on the news about 8 years back that reported on 'Hill Billies' dying from a CJD-type illness through eating squirrel brains. Anyone else remember that? Personally I think eating brains can't do you any good whatsoever - it can't be good for you.

Seems the meat ended up in Oregon, California, Nevada and Washington. Thats some distance.

i just read today that arizona is one of 8 states that did not get shipments from that processing plant. i guess im safe, not that i was very worried in the first place.