My daughter has been in France for about a year on a "year abroad program" and she has a craving for McDonald's hamburger, but is worried about the disease in Europe. <BR><BR>Does anyone know what is the source of the beef, is it American beef or local beef?<BR><BR>Also, is it true that it is safer to consume McDonald's hamburger in Switzerland since they do not prduce beef there.

McDonald's hamburger is the absolutely cheapest meat produced in south america fed God only knows what under inhumane conditions. Why would you want to put that in your body? Fewer people die of mad cow disease than they do of food poisening. You are more likely to get food poisening from a McDonald's hamburger. I'd rather eat snails. UFFDA Snailburgers the new rage.

Lim,<BR>It's local beef! I don't believe that Swiss McDonald's are any safer, though a Swiss might disagree. I live in Lucerne, and they do have mad cow here, but the beef must come from France or Germany (?). Same problem. Lina is right that the chances are small. If your daughter is having a craving for beef, she can always eat veal safely. It is too young to have the Mad Cow. OK...I bet that it another controversial topic!<BR>Cheers,<BR>Jan

Lim,<BR><BR>The beef is from France... and is guaranteed to be pure muscle meat (where the prions that carry the disease are not present). The meat is inspected to be sure they abide by this (they have signs in all their 'restaurants'stating this)<BR><BR>Personally I think that McDonald's has about the worst hamburgers...anywhere i the world. If she has access to cooking facilities, she should get ground beef from a butcher (where she can see precisely what she is getting)and make her own. <BR>PB<BR><BR><BR><BR>

Thee food products-beef,bread,potatoes-come from the country that the McDonalds is located in.If someone has such an urge(which is beyond me) to eat a hamburger,go to a decent restaurant..but you could not pay me to eat beef in Europe right now..just after I finish the last bite, someone will announce that there has been another outbreak..and you do know it takes years and years to show up?

I think some miss the point...A Mc Donald's is a Mcdonalds , it is an entity in itself. A hamburger is great but it is not a McDonald's ..<BR><BR>Just like their fries...they are McDonald fries and sometimes you just want those even though there is no comparison with a great Belgian Fry

It was my understanding that "mad cow disease" was spread by unsanitary feeding habits (feeding animal parts to the animals) and that since this has been discontinued, there is no risk of recurrence or spread of mad cow disease.

To xxx3. In a perfect world, you would be right...<BR><BR>The feed was not exactly unsanitary - it was processed meat-and-bone-meal added to conventional feed. OK, not pleasant to make cows eat meat products, but not exactly like putting raw meat in their feed troughs. It was not understood that without extremely high temperatures, the prion agent survived and could infect further animals.<BR><BR>Although the practice was stopped years ago, it seems to have been impossible to make sure than none of the contaminated feed remains in the system - whether in farm stores, feed merchants, factories, whatever. While it is illegal to use or sell it, there have been cases where it is still being found, or suspected. After all, why are there still cases being diagnosed in various European countries even now? <BR><BR>Also, it takes several years before the disease shows symptoms in cows. And the possibility of mother-calf transmission has not been entirely ruled out. Altogether a complicated story, of which we will not know the outcome for many, many years.

Thanks everyone for all your insightful information. I agree with one of our readers who mentioned that a McDonald's burger is not the same as any other, even though it is junk food. It looks like my daughter will have to fly back to the US to satisfy her cravings.<BR><BR>Just a short note on the infectious prion. It is found in blood, the marrow and the nervous system of the infected animal. It is the only infectious agent( unlike viruses or bacteria) that cannot be killed by heat (cooking or boiling ) or chemicals. <BR><BR>Another note. A recent article in a medical journal reported that a woman in Florence was diagnosed with a variant of the mad cow agent and the Italian Govt accused the Mafia of unauthorized slaughtering.

I realize that we don't live in a perfect world, but for goodness' sake, let's keep these various risks in perspective. The risk from "mad cow disease" is minuscule compared to the risk that you'll get killed crossing the street.

I agree, xxx3, but until we know the incubation time of variant CJD, we have no idea how many people (mostly in the UK, unfortunately) are incubating the disease - about 100 have died of it so far. But I still eat beef - if I get the disease it will probably be because of what I ate in the 1980's, before anyone knew of all this. The beef now is much safer. But I would respect someone who did not want to eat European beef.<BR><BR>And, as you say, crossing the road is also a risk.