No one in America can categorically say "Beef is safe"

I got into a nice little rant on CJD Voice today, and thought it needed to be shared with the rest of the world:

It drives me nuts to hear people say "beef is safe," and I've heard it dozens of times since yesterday. I do not think anyone in this country can give such a categorical statement that beef is safe. I think there is a proper answer to that question, which no one has yet given. It is:

You need to look for SAFE beef. You need to know where the beef you are about to eat came from. Know the age of the cow, know where it was raised and how it was fed. If that means you buy only local, grass-fed beef, so be it. If you have the money to spend and love beef that much, go to Whole Foods and get the organic stuff. Ask your butcher where the
beef came from, what it was fed and how all of that is proven/guaranteed. On top of that, think of the other sources of BSE...research has shown prions in muscle and cow's milk...other conflicting research shows it isn't there. So who is right? Right now you have a disease in the UK and the US no one can:

1) Properly track
2) Clinically diagnose
3) CURE
4) Tell you how it spreads from animal to animal and
human to human
5) Guarantee the safety of the food on shelves because
our beef labeling system is insulting. It is archaic.


So it's really something you need to take responsibility for yourself, as the consumer. Decide how much risk you can take. I did. I spend too much at Whole Foods, sometimes, yes. I went vegan, which was hard work, but fun. And I'm happy with it. But not everyone will go vegan to protect themselves. It's not practical for the majority and still doesn't cure the problem with have with prion diseases in this country with both humans and animals. And Americans know nothing about food safety, let alone nutrition, to begin with. So the public needs to be educated. The people are going to need to educate themselves. Take responsibility and start asking questions.

I see reporters reading President Bush the riot act at the White House, but I don't see any science and health reporters asking the right questions of John Clifford and Mike Johanns. Every news story that is printed is the same standard. They all say "beef is safe." They all say, "SRM never entered the food supply," or they say "the infected animal never entered the food supply." Then they talk about BSE causing vCJD, and there is a small mention of CJD and then the token (and not to mention wrong) statistic that CJD is a 1 in 1 million occurence. It's really 1 in 7,000 or 1 in 9,000 depending on who you talk to and what variables they are talking about.

So stop taking the news at face value. There is so much more going on and I'm so sick of how this story is covered. I'm also sick of the use of the phrase "mad cow disease." But I'll have to save that for another blog entry. I'm out of time at present.