Can anyone tell me if the beef is safe in Germany?(you know with mad-cow disease) We would only be eating in higher-end restaurants, so as not to take any chances. Going to be in Frankfurt, Munich,Rothenburg,possibly Salzburg,Austria. Any information would be of great help. Thank you

What an excellent strategy. I'm sure it's true ... high priced cattle wouldn't catch the disease. It's only those low priced cattle you have to watch out for.

Stick with Schnitzel

Just make sure you eat a rich, happy cow. It's those mad cow's that cause the problem.

C'mon folks -- this is a legitimate question. And in fact one of the recopmmendations is to eat in higher end places because it is assumed [or known] that they take more care with their sources for the food they serve.

The answer to your question is yes, it is very safe to eat beef anywhere in Europe. The qualifications are don't eat hamburger especially at fast food places. When you eat a piece of beef like a steak or a roast, it came from one cow. With hamburger it could be a mixture of hundreds of cows. Nothing is 100%, you just have to play the odds.

AFAIK, there has been only a handful of cases of mad cows in Germany (as opposed to hundreds in France and dozen of thousands in the UK), and no human case of the related CJD (2 or 3 in France, and perhaps 100 in the UK). <BR> <BR>So, I would assume that even if no precautions were taken by the authorities in Germany, the meat would be pretty safe. I suppose you're way more likely to die choked to death by the piece of meat than to catch the CJD while eating german beef.