When the USDA made the announcement about the case of mad cow disease discovered in California earlier this week, there was panic abroad. The dairy cow randomly tested for this mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, was not to be slaughtered for food, but it is frightening all the same.
Mad cow disease is caused by using cow remains in the cattle feed. Since the outbreak first appeared in the 1980s with English cattle herds, approximately 200,000 cattle have been affected worldwide. Mad cow disease has not been detected in the U.S. since 2006 due to some measly efforts made by the United States Department of Agriculture. Currently, the U.S. only screens 1 in 1,700 cows out of the 34 million slaughtered annually. After the two cases of mad cow disease in 2006, the FDA and USDA banned the inclusion of spinal cords and brains from cows 30 months and older from the animal feed.
What is currently allowed in cattle feed, besides the spinal cord and brains from younger cows, is plate waste (restaurant scraps), poultry litter, and cow and pig blood. As if that isn't nauseating enough, they use the cow and pig blood to supplement protein in the milk for the young calves.
If a human does consume meat from a diseased cow they will fall ill to the human form of mad cow disease called Variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease, or vCJD, which has killed approximately 150 people worldwide.
The USDA tells us not to worry and to note that only 4 cases of BSE has occured in the U.S. since 2003. What Americans need to be aware of is that symptoms for humans and cows infected with this disease can go years without showing signs. "It is possible for a person infected with vCJD to live for 30 years before showing any symptoms of the disease, and since it is impossible at this point to diagnose vCJD before symptoms are experienced, it is likely many more people are carrying the disease completely unaware."
Not only do I feel betrayed by the government departments created to protect me, I am completely and utterly disgusted to learn what all goes into the meat Americans consume on a daily basis. Our safest course is to eat organic or 100% grass-fed cattle. Better yet, shop at your local farms to market! Hopefully, Americans will educate themselves and spend the extra money for good quality beef. This would cause the meat industry to start making healthier choices on how they process the cattle. Once that day comes; we would no longer have to worry about mad cow disease.
While perusing the Perusing Government blog, I came across a blog post titled Mad Cow - Mad USDA and it piqued my interest. Why would the blog writer claim the USDA to be mad when the USDA has been set up with our tax dollars to safeguard our agriculture?
ReplyDeleteThe blog writer in a concise and expert fashion, delineated what the Mad Cow disease is. The post carries on stating that the cause of the Mad Cow disease is actually the cattle feed that is given to the cows to consume. The cattle feed prior to 2004 included spinal cord and brains from younger cows, plate waste (restaurant scraps), poultry litter, and cow and pig blood. As of 2004, spinal cords and brains from younger cows were banned as an ingredient for cattle feed. However, cattle feed given to cows today can include plate waste (restaurant scraps), poultry litter, and cow and pig blood, which I don't know about you, sends a chill down my back.
The blog writer than concludes with the following:
Not only do I feel betrayed by the government departments created to protect me, I am completely and utterly disgusted to learn what all goes into the meat Americans consume on a daily basis. Our safest course is to eat organic or 100% grass-fed cattle. Better yet, shop at your local farms to market! Hopefully, Americans will educate themselves and spend the extra money for good quality beef. This would cause the meat industry to start making healthier choices on how they process the cattle. Once that day comes; we would no longer have to worry about mad cow disease.
Boy, am I glad I educated myself on this topic and I must admit I share the same feelings of betrayal and disgust. I cannot believe that I was naive enough to believe that such a prominent organization like the USDA would allow such nauseating and disgusting ingredients in cattle feed. I am seriously looking into going organic or at least natural. I feel highly indebted to the blog writer for opening my eyes and potentially saving me from insanity.