Mad Cow in the news
In a move that is eerily familiar, it looks like the USDA is more interested in convincing people that US beef is safe than it is in actually making it safe, according to “United Press International: USDA refused to release mad cow records”:http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20031223-103657-3424r
And naturally, they’re still “blaming Canada”:http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/newsstory.asp?docID=516712 .
Maybe it really is time to stop eating hamburger, or to be truly safe, all beef. That would suck, but then so would variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease…
posted at 1:51 pm on Sunday, December 28, 2003 in Current Events | Comments (2)
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Hey, I’m a beef producer in Quebec, and I’d like to say that it is not time to stop eating beef. There is very little chance of eating meat from an infected cow, especially if you avoid 99 cent/lb hamburger. No good feedlot beef is ever older than 2 yrs, so if you buy good cuts, no problem. If you want to eat old dairy cows, take your chances! My whole life is about producing good healthy food products (beef and organic maple syrup), so I have very little patience for city dwellers (no offence) who think they have any insight into the subject beyond “paper or plastic ?” We are doing a great job, don’t believe everything you hear in the news.
A couple of comments:
– I think things are pretty good in Canada. We have some bad apples, but generally speaking most providers are honest, and the inspection system mostly works.
– I think things are worse in the USA. The percentage of bad apples (those willing to compromise safety to make an extra buck) is still small, but higher; and the inspection system sucks; we could argue that the US government is deliberately looking the wrong way (the point of my posting).
I’m not going to give up beef just yet, but I am going to be a bit more careful; reputable sources, etc. …