Anne

We are leaving for Germany in a few weeks, <BR>I have obviously heard over & over about the staying away from meat. I was just told to also avoid milk,butter,etc... <BR>Is this true? <BR>The list is shrinking of what foods are safe to eat? Is this just hype? <BR>Any comments--- <BR>

Linda

The meat (and all dairy products) in Germany are perfectly safe to eat. Millions of Germans eat it every day and none of them are dropping dead from it. There is no foot and mouth disease in Germany (it's not dangerous to humans anyway) nor, as far as I know, have there been any instances of mad cow disease. I'd be more worried about getting e-coli from your neighborhood McD's or food poisoning at your parish church supper than about the the danger of the meat in Germany. Go, eat weinerschnitzel or wurst, and ENJOY your trip.

Ann

Where did you hear that meat in Germany wasn't safe? It's perfectly fine.

Ursula

Linda, you made a wonderful and nice typo! Weinerschnitzel instead of Wienerschnitzel (originally from Vienna). <BR> <BR>weinen = to cry <BR> <BR>A nice Wienerschnitzel (but the original is made with veal not pork) is absolutely great, I agree. <BR> <BR>Anne: Eat all dairy products, including ice cream and meat too.

Linda

Sorry about the typo--and it was a typo, not ignorance--at least not this time. Been known to be ignorant, though. So thank you for the correction. (And yes, given the context of the thread, it was an interesting typo.)

Ursula

Linda, you don't have to be sorry for your typo. It happens over and over again. And when it's funny at the same time, it was worth it. Like the one here that I read on this board: <BR> <BR>Bateaux Moches (instead of Mouches) <BR> <BR>moche(s) = ugly. <BR> <BR>That was a funny one too. Yes, and a good Wienerschnitzel there is definitely nothing to cry at. Although you often get in made with pork, because it's cheaper than veal.

Al

Just returned from a couple weeks in France Germany and Austria. No food problems at all. Don't waste your time on steaks or beef, not because of any shortages or diseases, but because you can get them at home. Try the local sausages, pork, lamb, rabbit, duck, venison. Do not forego the delicious and varied local cheeses. Try them everywhere you go. You won't regret it. Also there is a secret ingredient in locally brewed beer that counteracts all foot and mouth or mad cow bugs. One or two litres and you'll be fine

richardab

I just returned from germany and italy and i gobbles as much lamb, veal, pork and beef as I could find. Everyone else seemed to be doing the same. Don't worry, enjoy!

Lori

I have been lived in Germany for several months, and (in my experience) the only people who don't eat beef and dairy are Americans who buy the hype. (I'm American, by the way.) British expats and Germans carry on as usual. Also, before moving here, I did some research on BSE (Mad Cow). It is suspected that the agent carrying the disease resides in neural matter--brains, bone marrow, spinal matter. It is NOT thought to reside in muscle, and there is no reason to suspect that it is present in dairy products. So steaks and dairly should be completely safe. Some people stay away specifically from ground beef because you can't be sure what's in it, but it's probably not worth worrying about... <BR> <BR>BSE is a really scary thing, especially since we know so little about it, but there are so very few occurrences in humans that the general panic seems really unwarranted. Frankly, many researchers aren't even certain that the human incidences of BSE were related to beef consumption. It's all theory, and hyper-publicized at that. <BR> <BR>Regarding Hoof and Mouth disease...that is thought to be under control, and the disease does not affect humans. Much livestock has been destroyed throughout Europe, so there is something of a supply-and-demand issue, but nothing dangerous to you. <BR> <BR>Please, eat whatever you want (and you'll find PLENTY to eat here!!), and have fun.

bessy

moooooooooooooo eat me

Christina

I've never heard of avoiding dairy products from a legitimate scientific source, in fact, the opposite. Just go to the CDC web site (www.cdc.gov/travel), travelers health issues or something, they have detailed advice on precautions and discussion of the disease if you are talking about Mad Cow (you need to look for BSE). I think the odds of contracting the human disease from BSE (forget its name- nvCJD?) is about 1 in 10 billion or something like that, and then only from specific meat cuts, as someone said' they recommend avoiding stuff you don't know so well what it is, or that does not come from prime areas (ie, sausages, ground beef, etc, I personally avoid certain unusual organ meats routinely for other reasons as they can carry bad bacteria, like hearts and lungs and kidneys). What is interesting is that the American Red Cross does not accept blood from anyone who lived 6 mo or more in UK from 1980-1996 due to the possibility of carrying whatever the thing is (protein?) that affects humans from Mad Cow Disease. There haven't been any cases in Germany, though, and I know they eat a lot of pork there but in Austria at least they eat a lot of veal which I find disgusting, but they eat it a lot. Personally, I like a good steak in France, they usually cook them very well, and I don't like pork much, nor sausage, so I won't eat that, and they have lots of strange meat products in German restaurants I don't like. Pork is not rare where I live in the US.