OT: BSE (aka Mad Cow Disease) in the US

parabolize · #1 October 9th, 2003, 06:37 AM

US FDA does have restrictions on what to feed the livestock but they are stupid:
you cant feed cows cow brains but pig is ok.
you cant feed pigs pig brains but cow is ok.

DavidG · #2 October 9th, 2003, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TerranC:

quote:
Originally posted by Renegade 13:
In my opinion, there is no reason why the US border shouldn't be opened to Canadian beef immediately. But hey, I'm prejudiced

If that happens, the Japanese will freak and close the border on North American beef.

Which is the problem. I'd like to know how Japan justifies how it is screwing our cattle insustry. It was ONE cow found I think in March. It was detected BEFORE entering the food chain. Not a single other case was found. None of the other animals in its herd or any herd it had been with were found with BSE. Japan had 7 or 8 cases in around 2000 I think. Seems (to my uneducated brain) that this suggests that there is more chance of undetected BSE in Japan than Canada.
It's hard not to suspect that dirty politics is the real reason the ban is still in effect.

Mephisto · #3 October 10th, 2003, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Which is the problem. I'd like to know how Japan justifies how it is screwing our cattle insustry.

Well, the European cattle industry wants to know the exact same thing from the US and Canada. The north american states did the exact same thing when they were "BSE-free" to protect their market.

Thermodyne · #4 October 9th, 2003, 03:17 PM

LOL, leftover beef byproducts in the US, that�s real funny. Why would they put it into feed when they can make shampoo and SlimJims out of it. Not to mention preformed hamburgers.

On a serious note, the US relies on soy protein for cattle feed to a large extent. (As I thought Canada did) We have a surplus of beans, which makes them cheap. And they add bulk, which eliminates the need to add fillers (sawdust/corn stalks) to the feed.

Renegade 13 · #5 October 9th, 2003, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DavidG:

quote:
Originally posted by TerranC:

quote:
Originally posted by Renegade 13:
In my opinion, there is no reason why the US border shouldn't be opened to Canadian beef immediately. But hey, I'm prejudiced

If that happens, the Japanese will freak and close the border on North American beef.

Which is the problem. I'd like to know how Japan justifies how it is screwing our cattle insustry. It was ONE cow found I think in March. It was detected BEFORE entering the food chain. Not a single other case was found. None of the other animals in its herd or any herd it had been with were found with BSE. Japan had 7 or 8 cases in around 2000 I think. Seems (to my uneducated brain) that this suggests that there is more chance of undetected BSE in Japan than Canada.
It's hard not to suspect that dirty politics is the real reason the ban is still in effect.

The Canadian case was detected in May. And Japan has just recently had another case of BSE. About 3 days ago they found a new one.

Renegade 13 · #6 October 9th, 2003, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Thermodyne:
LOL, leftover beef byproducts in the US, that�s real funny. Why would they put it into feed when they can make shampoo and SlimJims out of it. Not to mention preformed hamburgers.

On a serious note, the US relies on soy protein for cattle feed to a large extent. (As I thought Canada did) We have a surplus of beans, which makes them cheap. And they add bulk, which eliminates the need to add fillers (sawdust/corn stalks) to the feed.

I think Canada does use soy protein much of the time. It's been illegal to feed animal protein to cattle for the Last 6 years. Personally, I'd still eat beef if most of the Canadian herd had BSE. It doesn't scare me. Does it really scare any of you??

DavidG · #7 October 9th, 2003, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mephisto:

quote:
Which is the problem. I'd like to know how Japan justifies how it is screwing our cattle insustry.

Well, the European cattle industry wants to know the exact same thing from the US and Canada. The north american states did the exact same thing when they were "BSE-free" to protect their market.

Well no doubt there is a ton of politics involved but wasn't the European problem several orders of magnitude greater than a single case in Canada?