- "The health risks from Sunday's nationwide beef
recall are minimal, according to food safety experts, despite the massive
amount of meat involved in the largest such recall in U.S. history."
-
- Hello Jeff - The above statement is beyond treasonous.
It is shameful in as much as it makes people believe that meat is safe.
We know that the recalled beef is NOT SAFE or the massive recall would
not have happened. One look at that video of downer sick (mad cow
probable) cattle being dragged to slaughter tells us ALL we need to know:
-
- EVERYONE who ate meat from the recalled 143 MILLION POUNDS
of beef is AT RISK for MAD COW or a mad cow-like disease.
-
- The article tries to lull the public into a false sense
of security and leads people to erroneously to believe that by well-cooking
the meat they are safe! We also know that this is NOT true. Prions
are NOT even destroyed or neutralized by incineration!
-
- The article also says that NO ILLNESSES have been attributed
to the recalled meat. That is an amazing and a very stupid statement.
First of all, ANY prion infected meat will take time to show up.
Incubation can range from a year or two (or less?) to decades. In some
cases nvCJD may be atypical and prion disease might turn up in a genetic
type illness.
-
- The recalled frozen beef dates back to Feb. 2006, so
how will ANY health care professionals be able to pinpoint disease? They
CAN'T.
-
- Here's another whopper (pardon the pun): the Director
of the Center For Food Safety at the University of Georgia says...now get
this one, folks: "If cows can't walk, they are likely to be sick."
What a brilliant man.
-
- Not satisfied with one moronic statement, he goes on
to lay out one of the biggest lies of all: "...I think it's inappropriate
to put emphasis on BSE [mad cow disease], simply because it's so, so rare
in this country." Oh, really? "so, so rare" Rare?
How the hell does HE know? There are over 32 million cattle slaughtered
and eaten by 'people' every year in the US. Until several years ago,
the viciously corrupt USDA was testing for mad cow by examining the brains
of a stated '23,000 cattle a year.' Yep, that's right, 23,000 out of
32 million. Feel safer? Well, try this one on: A year
ago, the USDA cut BACK by 90% the number of cattle tested for mad cow every
year. That leaves only 2,300 cattle out of 32 MILLION which are actually
tested by the USDA each year to 'protect' Americans from mad cow disease.
Feel even safer now?
-
-
- Most of you should have no trouble understanding WHY
the USDA doesn't want to LOOK for mad cow disease in the US.
-
- Oh, and in case you didn't know, TWO US slaughterhouse/meat
packing companies - who ARE concerned about the risk of Mad Cow - built
facilities at their plants to allow for the testing for Mad Cow in EVERY
animal that is slaughtered at their plants (just like all Japanese slaughterhouses
must do). The USDA promptly told these two US meatpackers in so many
words: "Try it and we'll shut you down and you're out of business."
Get the picture? Money is king, people are quite expendable.
-
-
- The following article is meant to soothe the public back
to buying beef, plain and simple. It is nothing more than an advertisement
for beef. It is also nothing more than deceit. It is also nothing
more than de facto participation is grotesque negligence and lies...
-
- http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4307422&page=1
-
-
- Small Risk Of Danger From Beef Recall
-
- The health risks from Sunday's nationwide beef recall
are minimal, according to food safety experts, despite the massive amount
of meat involved in the largest such recall in U.S. history.
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered California-based
Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. to recall 143 million pounds of beef after an
undercover video showed cows that were unable to walk being shoved with
forklifts or dragged with chains across slaughterhouse floors.
-
- In statements, both the USDA and the American Meat Institute
say the safety violations in the leaked video have more to do with inhumane
animal handling and slaughter, and less to do with the contamination of
beef.
-
-
- Inhumane as forklifts and chains seem, what matters for
food safety is whether the cow is a "downer," or an animal that
cannot walk before it's slaughtered.
-
- Fit For Slaughter
-
- "Downer cattle are not as commonly slaughtered as
they used to be," said Michael Doyle, director of the Center of Food
Safety at the University of Georgia. "It used to be a common practice,
not anymore."
-
-
- If cows can't walk, they are likely to be sick. Doyle
says the USDA put stricter regulations on slaughtering downers after the
late '90s outbreak of mad cow disease in Britain.
- "But, I think it's inappropriate to put emphasis
on BSE [mad cow disease], simply because it's so, so rare in this country,"
Doyle said.
-
-
- However, cows that can't walk for any reason - including
injury - are also more likely to contaminate meat with salmonella and E.
coli, which can be transferred from the animal's waste into ground beef
through unclean slaughterhouse practices.
-
-
- "The animals lay in their waste, so it gets on their
hide, and hide contamination is the primary reason why the carcass gets
contaminated," said Doyle. "That doesn't mean the risk is incredibly
higher, but this pathogen is slightly higher in downed cattle."
-
-
- The USDA said it had evidence that Westland did not routinely
contact its veterinarian when cows became unable to walk after passing
a health inspection.
-
- So far, no illnesses have been linked to the recalled
beef and officials said they believe the majority of it already has been
consumed. The recall affects beef products dating to Feb. 1, 2006.
- The best way to ensure that your beef is safe, says Doyle,
is to cook it properly.
-
- In Your Kitchen, in Your Home
-
- "We still have to properly handle and cook raw beef,"
said Doyle.
-
-
- Cooking beef to well-done, particularly ground beef,
will kill salmonella and E. coli. Washing your hands and keeping your kitchen
sanitary will reduce the risk of contaminating other food. Unfortunately,
says Doyle, the brand or quality of beef can't guarantee safety.
-
-
- "Organic or free-range meat is not going to be free
of microorganisms," said Doyle. "E. coli and salmonella is found
on organic and free-range cattle, too." People who
have an E. coli infection may have symptoms of severe stomach pain and
bloody diarrhea, says Doyle. Children and the elderly are particularly
at risk for developing severe symptoms and suffering kidney failure from
E. coli.
-
- http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4307422&page=1
-
- _____
-
-
- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD (NO relation to the above
Doyle)
- Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
- Univ of West Indies
-
-
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php
- Also my new website:
- http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
|
