Mad Cow Disease?
#5
Guest
Posts: n/a
There was undoubtedly a problem in the UK in the late 80s & 90s. The long-term effect on humans won't be known for a good few years yet. <BR><BR>The problem was made worse by the fact that the government of the day and the farming industry went into serious denial and kept telling every one that there wasn't a problem.<BR><BR>The bill for this mistake now runs into £billions. However what it does mean is that there are now control mechanisms in place that mean that within the UK eating beef is now safer than it was before mad-cow disease ever existed, and probably safer than many other countries which have either denied they have ever had a problem or dont have such strict control mechanisms in place.<BR><BR>Bon appetit<BR>
Trending Topics
#9
Guest
Posts: n/a
Eating beef in Britain is now perfectly safe. However, ask the French to categorically state that their chickens and eggs are safe. Watch out for listeria and salmonella. The French's ban of British beef was just a cover up for their own farming problems.
#14
Guest
Posts: n/a
only mad cows,<BR><BR>Nor France nor Germany had denied they had a problem with the MCD. France at least (and I suppose Germany too) took drastic measures to avoid the spreading of the disease (and to avoid that infected meat could be consummed).<BR><BR>But the problem was on a much lower scale. France found about 100 times less infected cows than the UK (some hundreds), and Germany about 100 times less than France (that would be *some* infected German cows)<BR>
#16
Guest
Posts: n/a
Won't eat beef in Europe. Period. And won't let my family. Although ecoli and salmonella can occassionally be fatal, 24-48 hours of gut rot is usually survivable. That is not the same as absolute degenerative brain disease that WILL cause death and for which there is no cure at all. And it's not killed with proper meat handling and preparation either.<BR>Why eat beef there, anyway, when it's not what they "do" best? We lived in Europe in the early 80's - before the outbreak - and gave up on European beef since there were so many delicious options like chicken, pork, lamb, seafood, and unbelievable vegetables that are incredibly fresh and not full of pesticides.
#19
Guest
Posts: n/a
Interestingly, I have recently been to a forum discussing the state of the US beef industry... several interesting theories are being put forward including that several forms of dementia/alzheimers found in the elderly may be attributed to eating US beef.. (these are hypothosis, not proven) what is true, is that there is a ton of pesticides, antibiotics and hormones in US beef. Many of the so-called "super drug" resistant strains of infection that we have been seeing could be the result of people becoming tolerant of anti biotics through years of consuming them in dairy, beef and poultry products. Likewise the effects of consuming so many growth hormones could be effecting everything from menopause symptoms to cancer to middle aged acne. In my opinion you are best off eating organic meat, if you are worried about those types of things. Regarding mad cow, if you feel safe eating beef in the US, you will most likely feel safe eating it overseas.

