Why does Customs ask if you stayed at a farm? And a couple more questions...
Sep 24th, 2007, 08:05 AM
#1
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Why does Customs ask if you stayed at a farm? And a couple more questions...
Is it "safe" to eat the food? We are staying at a farm in a couple of weeks and a friend told me not to eat beef (Mad Cow) or poultry (a farm in the area had to kill all the poultry due to the bird flu?) I dunno. Seems OK to me to eat anything but I wanted to ask those who have been there and done that..... Thanks for your help!
Sep 24th, 2007, 08:23 AM
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I assume that you are coming back to the US when you are asked this...there is a disease - hoof and mouth - that can significantly damage cattle. Cattle infected die, or must be destroyed. US officials (other countries too I'm sure) want to make sure that the disease is not spread.
As it relates to eating the food - you don't say where you are going....
As it relates to eating the food - you don't say where you are going....
Sep 24th, 2007, 08:31 AM
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Hoof and mouth disease can be carried across borders on the shoes of tourists walking on a farm. If you've walked on or near a farm that's recently been quarantined, customs most definitely will be interested in that fact.
Mad cow disease is still a problem, but the odds of anyone getting it by eating European beef are miniscule. And your friend obviously knows NOTHING about transmission of bird flu. Once the bird has been killed and cooked, spread of this highly deadly disease is impossible. I'd be a little reluctant to walk though an area where birds and pigs freely roam together (THIS is how bird flu is transmitted to humans), but eating birds will not give you the flu.
Mad cow disease is still a problem, but the odds of anyone getting it by eating European beef are miniscule. And your friend obviously knows NOTHING about transmission of bird flu. Once the bird has been killed and cooked, spread of this highly deadly disease is impossible. I'd be a little reluctant to walk though an area where birds and pigs freely roam together (THIS is how bird flu is transmitted to humans), but eating birds will not give you the flu.
Sep 24th, 2007, 08:35 AM
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While everyone can agree that mad cow disease and bird flu are serious issues when and where they occur, anybody who makes broad, blanket statements such as your friend has is off base, or at best mis-informed.
Does your friend also tell you not to eat American grown spinach or hamburger, or peanut butter? Each of those products + many others have had issues over just the last year or so.
I have just as much confidence in the safety of food in Europe as I do in the US.
As others have stated the question about farms comes from bring back organisms (i.e. in your shoes) that could infect a US farm.
Does your friend also tell you not to eat American grown spinach or hamburger, or peanut butter? Each of those products + many others have had issues over just the last year or so.
I have just as much confidence in the safety of food in Europe as I do in the US.
As others have stated the question about farms comes from bring back organisms (i.e. in your shoes) that could infect a US farm.
Sep 24th, 2007, 09:14 AM
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How do you know the friend is off-base, J62? The OP hasn't even said where he is going, and he specifically said there was a farm in the same area that had had bird flu.
It's the same reason customs won't let you bring in live plant material -- it can carry pests that can cause a lot of agricultural damage in the US.
Personally, I wouldn't be eating poultry if I were staying at a farm that had had bird flu, either. I know there is very little risk of contracting it if you aren't around raw poultry or blood, as long as the food is cooked properly, but who wants to count on that.
I didn't know they'd had any bird flu in Europe recently. I've eaten poultry in restaurants, but to eat it while staying at a farm that had had bird flu is something I wouldn't be that blase about, either.
It's the same reason customs won't let you bring in live plant material -- it can carry pests that can cause a lot of agricultural damage in the US.
Personally, I wouldn't be eating poultry if I were staying at a farm that had had bird flu, either. I know there is very little risk of contracting it if you aren't around raw poultry or blood, as long as the food is cooked properly, but who wants to count on that.
I didn't know they'd had any bird flu in Europe recently. I've eaten poultry in restaurants, but to eat it while staying at a farm that had had bird flu is something I wouldn't be that blase about, either.
Sep 24th, 2007, 09:16 AM
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I have the utmost confidence in the quality of the food in Europe, because in most cases the restaurant proprietor can tell you exactly where it came from. He/she will tell you the meat and fowl are from a local farm belonging to a family member or friend, one you probably drove past. The beer is brewed in the next town by a microbrewery, and the cheese made on the farm that has made this specialty cheese for 100 years from goats grazing on the hill outside the village.
Europeans are very proud of their locally produced foods and support local farms and regional products.
Europeans are very proud of their locally produced foods and support local farms and regional products.
Sep 24th, 2007, 09:21 AM
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We lived on a farm for a while, back in the 80's, so pre bird flu and mad cow. My OH went to the US on a business trip and answered yes to the question. Mild panic at the airport - they didn't know how to deal with him at all. When were you aon a farm? This morning befroe leaving. Why? I live there. Oh um did you milk the cows or anything. No I just live there.
After much toing and froing and calling of supervisors they decided to let him in to the US, with the advice to just say no next time!
Foot and Mouth is in the Uk at the moment, not in Germany. If it arrives in germany then there will be restriictions imposed. If you are within the immediate area of an infection and are on a farm you will not be allowed to leave, certainly not without thorough disinfection.
The cases of humans being infected with bird flu are where the humans and birds live in close proximaty of each other (under the same roof). There are occasional cases of other strains of bird flu, but again the restrictions mean you are not at risk. Poultry once cooked is safe.
There are still occasional cases of Mad Cow, but onlt very occasional. You have it in the US too. The rules on feeding cattle and handling them art the slaughter house have greatly reduced the chances of humans being affected.
Why would the food in Europe be any less safe than in the US?
After much toing and froing and calling of supervisors they decided to let him in to the US, with the advice to just say no next time!
Foot and Mouth is in the Uk at the moment, not in Germany. If it arrives in germany then there will be restriictions imposed. If you are within the immediate area of an infection and are on a farm you will not be allowed to leave, certainly not without thorough disinfection.
The cases of humans being infected with bird flu are where the humans and birds live in close proximaty of each other (under the same roof). There are occasional cases of other strains of bird flu, but again the restrictions mean you are not at risk. Poultry once cooked is safe.
There are still occasional cases of Mad Cow, but onlt very occasional. You have it in the US too. The rules on feeding cattle and handling them art the slaughter house have greatly reduced the chances of humans being affected.
Why would the food in Europe be any less safe than in the US?
Sep 24th, 2007, 10:28 AM
#10
When it comes to mad cow disease my impression is that you're a lot safer in Europe than in the US, where there is precious little testing done.
Quote from the Univ. of Illinois in 2006: "The U.S. Agriculture Department’s mad cow disease-testing program is wholly inadequate and the agency’s refusal to let processors do their own testing further undercuts the safety of American beef, a University of Illinois scholar writes." Also: "The law editor faulted the USDA’s decision to test only downer cows, which constitute less than 2 percent of the animals slaughtered each year in the U.S. By contrast, Japan and England test all slaughtered meat for BSE, and most European nations test cattle 24 months and older before they are slaughtered. Compounding USDA’s lax practices has been its refusal to allow beef processors to independently test cattle for mad cow disease." Source: www.news.uiuc.edu/NEWS/06/0515madcow.html
Quote from the Univ. of Illinois in 2006: "The U.S. Agriculture Department’s mad cow disease-testing program is wholly inadequate and the agency’s refusal to let processors do their own testing further undercuts the safety of American beef, a University of Illinois scholar writes." Also: "The law editor faulted the USDA’s decision to test only downer cows, which constitute less than 2 percent of the animals slaughtered each year in the U.S. By contrast, Japan and England test all slaughtered meat for BSE, and most European nations test cattle 24 months and older before they are slaughtered. Compounding USDA’s lax practices has been its refusal to allow beef processors to independently test cattle for mad cow disease." Source: www.news.uiuc.edu/NEWS/06/0515madcow.html
Sep 24th, 2007, 10:51 AM
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Thank you everyone! My friend who told me not to eat certain meats has never been out of the US whereas my husband is from Germany and told me I was crazy to listen to her. 
We've never stayed on a farm before so we are really excited and now I can't wait to try everything. Maybe I'll leave my shoes at the farm so there will be no worries. I'm not near any farms here in So. Cal, but why risk it, eh?
We've never stayed on a farm before so we are really excited and now I can't wait to try everything. Maybe I'll leave my shoes at the farm so there will be no worries. I'm not near any farms here in So. Cal, but why risk it, eh?
Sep 24th, 2007, 12:05 PM
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nebalogh wrote: "Maybe I'll leave my shoes at the farm..."
If it makes you feel better, do it. But it's quite unnecessary.
There are plenty of real problems in the world, and there are situations where appropriate precautions should be taken. It's a pity when people become alarmist where there is no problem. Don't allow an ill-informed friend spoil your trip.
If it makes you feel better, do it. But it's quite unnecessary.
There are plenty of real problems in the world, and there are situations where appropriate precautions should be taken. It's a pity when people become alarmist where there is no problem. Don't allow an ill-informed friend spoil your trip.
Sep 24th, 2007, 01:24 PM
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Hey N,
>Is it "safe" to eat the food?
Well, I was going to be sarcastic and write:
"No. Nor drink the water. You should stay only at Hilton hotels in large cities.
Also, bring antiseptic wipes and antibacterial soap.
A surgical mask could also be useful".
but I won't.
>..there is a disease - hoof and mouth ...
Thank you, juju, for not calling it "foot and mouth". The US media seem to believe that cattle have feet.
>Is it "safe" to eat the food?
Well, I was going to be sarcastic and write:
"No. Nor drink the water. You should stay only at Hilton hotels in large cities.
Also, bring antiseptic wipes and antibacterial soap.
A surgical mask could also be useful".
but I won't.
>..there is a disease - hoof and mouth ...
Thank you, juju, for not calling it "foot and mouth". The US media seem to believe that cattle have feet.
Sep 24th, 2007, 02:14 PM
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Hey Ira,
You were sarcastic. ha ha
My husband grew up in Germany. We have family in Bavaria and friends up north. We travel to Germany every summer but have never stayed on a farm before....There's no intent on my part to 'slam' Germany, its people or the food. My question was a simple one based on heresay from an uninformed friend. Other posters were kind enough to offer useful information. You didn't. There's no need to be rude or sarcastic on this friendly board, is there?
You were sarcastic. ha ha
My husband grew up in Germany. We have family in Bavaria and friends up north. We travel to Germany every summer but have never stayed on a farm before....There's no intent on my part to 'slam' Germany, its people or the food. My question was a simple one based on heresay from an uninformed friend. Other posters were kind enough to offer useful information. You didn't. There's no need to be rude or sarcastic on this friendly board, is there?
Sep 24th, 2007, 02:20 PM
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"...The US media seem to believe that cattle have feet."
It's called foot-and-mouth disease in the UK as well.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7009806.stm
It's called foot-and-mouth disease in the UK as well.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7009806.stm
Sep 24th, 2007, 04:12 PM
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Well, we stayed at a B&B in Bakewell, Derbyshire in England and the property had a farm ajoining their property. We never actually walked on the farm, but we wondered how we should answer that question.
We decided to answer "yes", and I was a bit worried when our cards got marked with a big red "A" on them, and we got pulled over. After a few minutes trying to discuss our situation with the imperial trooper-like security officers at SFO, they finally let us go. But, I never did find out if we just should have answered "no".
We decided to answer "yes", and I was a bit worried when our cards got marked with a big red "A" on them, and we got pulled over. After a few minutes trying to discuss our situation with the imperial trooper-like security officers at SFO, they finally let us go. But, I never did find out if we just should have answered "no".
Sep 25th, 2007, 07:10 AM
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Hi A,
> We never actually walked on the farm, but we wondered how we should answer that question.<
Since you didn't tread on possibly contaminated soil, the honest answer was "no".
> We never actually walked on the farm, but we wondered how we should answer that question.<
Since you didn't tread on possibly contaminated soil, the honest answer was "no".
Sep 25th, 2007, 07:31 AM
#19
You are not going to make a great impression if you are staying at a farm and refuse to eat their beef or poultry because of the mad cow disease and bird flu. They may send you flying out to the barn to spend the night.
If you don't want to eat meat, say you are a vegetarian.
By the way, I buy farm food in Switzerland and totally trust the local producers .
If you don't want to eat meat, say you are a vegetarian.
By the way, I buy farm food in Switzerland and totally trust the local producers .
Sep 25th, 2007, 07:50 AM
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A number of years back when I was planning a trip to Vienna I contacted the partner in charge of the Vienna office of the international accounting firm where my husband had been a partner before retiring.
I have been involved with horses most of my life and was most interested in getting into the stabling area of the Spanish Riding School. He responded that this had not been allowed since someone "brought in" hoof and mouth disease some time earlier. Sad! He offerred help with whatever else.
I was not interested in the performances, but was the first in line for the early morning schooling! I headed for the prime 2nd floor spot overlooking the arena.
If your answer is yes for the farm question, you will have more time to spend.
I have been involved with horses most of my life and was most interested in getting into the stabling area of the Spanish Riding School. He responded that this had not been allowed since someone "brought in" hoof and mouth disease some time earlier. Sad! He offerred help with whatever else.
I was not interested in the performances, but was the first in line for the early morning schooling! I headed for the prime 2nd floor spot overlooking the arena.
If your answer is yes for the farm question, you will have more time to spend.
