I just finished reading an article in the New York Times about Europeans' fears concerning beef and the apparent spread of "mad cow disease." Is this something travellers need to take into account?

No! THe risks are minute, certainly in GB and ROI the problem has been dealt with. In all honesty I would be more worried about US beef (I'm assuming you're american)which ahs been banned in britain for about 15 years now as the level of artificial growth hormones are higher than acceptable here. <BR> <BR>

I would be very concerned, especially right here in the States. The EU seems to be serious about dealing w/the problem by banning (I know Germany made the move, I assume the others will follow) the use of feeding ground meal made from the remains of animals to living animals (as a protein suppliment). At the very least I would stay away from any cut of beef that has come into contact (very hard to discern)with the brains or spinal column of an animal during the butchering process. Is it such a big deal to avoid beef?

You'll have zero worries in the UK, and provided you buy from reliable butchers (supermarkets are a safe bet) you'll be perfectly safe throughout Europe.

Very seldom in life can you say that something is categorically untrue, but you are certainly NOT 100% safe eating beef in the UK. <BR> <BR>The way cattle or humans catch the disease has not yet been determined, nor even what the infection is. There are more cattle known to be infected with BSE in the UK than in the rest of the world put together. When the EU forces the UK to use the French testing system (a measure being pushed through urgently right now), that rate of discovered infection is likely to burgeon. <BR> <BR>Also, you might be reassured to learn that the US government has been randomly testing for BSE in the American herd for several years. I believe about 3,000 carcasses from over 40 States have been analysed, and all were clear.

you are also NOT 100% safe <BR>Driving a car <BR>As a passenger in a car <BR>Walking <BR>crossing the road <BR>smoking a cigarette <BR>playing golf...... <BR> <BR>The list could go on. Can you name anything that offers you 100% safety...what a strange comment to make therefore. <BR> <BR>So 3000 carcasses tested in the US - wow what a huge amount! bet that puts you at your ease. So a tiny percentage of US cattle have been tested. Amazing how the French went on about British Beef for so long and now have the problem in their own back yard. <BR> <BR>If you are at all worried just don't eat beef - is that so hard? oh and don't travel by bus, car, plane, bike, foot, don't smoke, go out in a thunderstorm, swim with sharks.....

buonasera. <BR> <BR>the "old" discussion started again here in europe about the infected beef. it's nothing new and also nothing new is, that every country here tells you that exactly they are the best protected from all....... well!!! what i noticed all over this time is, that one year it's the sick sheep, the other it's the sick beef, followed by the more sicker chicken and at the very end i think: all this illnesses from the animals will come sooner or later back to us (we humans started to feed them strange stuff to make them biger, whiter, lo-fatter....). BUT it is also a nice way for the meet industrie in every country to sell more of their own meet (for example here in italy, the beefmeet started to be very very expencive and they started to blocade beef from other eu-countries). <BR> <BR>my way to think is: if you like it, eat it, if you are worried leave it, if you decide to live better as a vegetarian, do it. <BR> <BR>eat what you like! <BR> <BR>tanti saluti <BR> <BR>christina