OT: Mad cow disease and raw meat

[Guest guest]

The Price-Pottenger Foundation in California does encourage raw meat (esp.

beef liver - all together now, GROSS!!) and dairy. I don't believe that it

is safe these days, BSE aside, to consume either in the raw form, unless you

are raising it, including the feed, and slaughtering it yourself (or know

the farmer who grew it VERY well). I grew up on raw milk (my dad had a

small herd of Jersey cows), and we sold it to our neighbors. I also grew up

eating eggs that weren't cooked (via cookie dough - well into adulthood,

cookie dough didn't last long in our home!). But that also is no longer

safe, because of the contamination of the feed with salmonella, because of

the very problem that started the BSE to begin with.

 

In the " old " days, when meat was cooked more slowly, generally in soups or

other liquid forms (because the animals were slaughtered when they were

older & tougher, so the meat had to be tenderized), the enzymes that the raw

fooder seeks would have been somewhat preserved, certainly better than when

they are cooked at the higher temperatures today. There also would have

been a lower risk of the stomach cancers that are today suspected to be

caused by the higher cooking temperatures (also nitrates). My dad had a

smoke house, that also would have been a very slow cooking process.

 

Sue

 

 

Jeff Rogers [jeff]

Wednesday, December 24, 2003 5:18 PM

RawSeattle

[RawSeattle] Re: OT: Mad cow disease and raw meat

 

>OT P.S. Beef industry, RIP. :)

 

Many of us have believed this event was inevitable, given the lax

standards of the US, etc. The government's own statistics makes us

wonder what they were thinking and what they expected.

 

Regarding raw meats, there are some raw foodists (there is a " guru "

in California who taught raw foods, including raw meats) who hae

included raw meats and dairy in their diets. While that may be more

natural than cooking, it is certainly nothing I am instinctively

drawn to and have no desire to do.

 

For those consuming meats, whether cooked or raw, organic is the only

option as I see it, which avoids many of the pitfalls of commercial

aggriculture.

 

For those of you interested, below is an email I sent to King5, one

of our local stations, regarding their reporting of the mad cow case.

I sent copies to my representitives in Wash, DC, as well as the

Center for Disease Control, and the USDA. I had sent all these

parties emails earlier this year warning them of the need to test

every cow. The statistics are certainly interesting.

 

Jeff

 

Dear king5,

 

Re: Mad cow disease suspected in Washington State

 

The following are quotes from your online article [Agriculture

Secretary Ann Veneman], as well as your TV news report:

 

" Even though the risk to human health is minimal, we will take all

appropriate actions out of an abundance of caution, " she said.

 

Veneman said the Agriculture Department has had safeguards in place

since 1990 to check for mad cow disease and 20,526 cows had been

tested in 2003 in the United States.

 

U.S. beef remains " absolutely safe to eat, " she said.

 

From your evening news:

we have one of the " most stringent inspection systems "

 

 

I encourage you to look beyond the comments by Ms. Veneman. She makes

comments that cannot be backed up. She reminded us that 20,526 cows

have been tested in 2003. Government statistics tell us that

32,790,000 cows have been slaughtered (January through November) in

2003 (not including calves.) That means less than 0.06259% of

slaughtered cows are tested. That's about 6 out of 10,000. That is

NOT a " most stringent inspection system! " I do not consider that " an

abundance of caution. " The government has only been testing cows

showing symptoms of disease, such as downed cows. BSE may incubate in

a cow for 8 years or more without showing any signs of the disease.

Most cows are slaughtered at early ages (2 - 3.) That means that BSE

infected cows could make it to slaughter and to the dinner table

without ever being tested! That is NOT a " most stringent inspection

system! "

 

As BSE is not fully understood and it has been established that the

human form of BSE CAN be contracted from eating meat from

contaminated animals, then how can US beef be proclaimed as

" absolutely safe to eat? " I recognize the government may be trying to

prevent " collateral damage. " This news may seriously affect the meat

industry. That does not mean that government officials should mislead

us. And that does not mean that the media should pass on the

information unquestioned.

 

Please do your best to investigate this incident and the disease

itself and then share the true facts with us, your viewers.

 

Thank you!

 

Sincerely,

 

Jeff Rogers

Seattle, WA

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Jeff,

On Sunday afternoons I often listen to " On the Media " on NPR. Last year I

remember hearing an episode where 2 researchers spoke about their results. They

found that the cause of BSE is most likely due to the commercial practice of

feeding dead animals to live ones. They themselves became staunch vegetarians

as a result of the study, but they also recommended to everyone else " If you're

not a vegetarian, then your meals should be. " By cycling meat through the

animals for generations, producers are creating an environment for breading new

bacteria that can do novel kinds of damage to humans and can't be controlled by

any existing means. This study indicated that Parkinson's and other brain and

body damage caused by rampant bacteria attacking large amounts of tissue were

the result of cannablilistic animal feeding practices by commercial raisers.

 

Can't remember the date of the episode, but you can probably look it up in a

search. For the record, I'm 100% raw vegan and haven't eaten meat in 2 years.

My family doesn't share the same convictions though so I try to stay up on these

stories. I've tried to get my wife to by only organically raised grain-fed

beef. She sometimes listens to what I have to say but shows remarkable

complacency about it - insisting that there are more important things she has to

worry about, or that she can't do anything about it and I should stop pestering

her about it. Can't help thinking this might be a side effect of SAD - that

the person who most needs to change has become unable to see the need for

change. Hoping for better days ahead.

 

Merry Christmas.

 

Nickolas Hein

Morgantown WV

-

Jeff Rogers

RawSeattle

Wednesday, December 24, 2003 8:17 PM

[RawSeattle] Re: OT: Mad cow disease and raw meat

 

 

>OT P.S. Beef industry, RIP. :)

 

Many of us have believed this event was inevitable, given the lax

standards of the US, etc. The government's own statistics makes us

wonder what they were thinking and what they expected.

 

Regarding raw meats, there are some raw foodists (there is a " guru "

in California who taught raw foods, including raw meats) who hae

included raw meats and dairy in their diets. While that may be more

natural than cooking, it is certainly nothing I am instinctively

drawn to and have no desire to do.

 

For those consuming meats, whether cooked or raw, organic is the only

option as I see it, which avoids many of the pitfalls of commercial

aggriculture.

 

For those of you interested, below is an email I sent to King5, one

of our local stations, regarding their reporting of the mad cow case.

I sent copies to my representitives in Wash, DC, as well as the

Center for Disease Control, and the USDA. I had sent all these

parties emails earlier this year warning them of the need to test

every cow. The statistics are certainly interesting.

 

Jeff

 

Dear king5,

 

Re: Mad cow disease suspected in Washington State

 

The following are quotes from your online article [Agriculture

Secretary Ann Veneman], as well as your TV news report:

 

" Even though the risk to human health is minimal, we will take all

appropriate actions out of an abundance of caution, " she said.

 

Veneman said the Agriculture Department has had safeguards in place

since 1990 to check for mad cow disease and 20,526 cows had been

tested in 2003 in the United States.

 

U.S. beef remains " absolutely safe to eat, " she said.

 

From your evening news:

we have one of the " most stringent inspection systems "

 

 

I encourage you to look beyond the comments by Ms. Veneman. She makes

comments that cannot be backed up. She reminded us that 20,526 cows

have been tested in 2003. Government statistics tell us that

32,790,000 cows have been slaughtered (January through November) in

2003 (not including calves.) That means less than 0.06259% of

slaughtered cows are tested. That's about 6 out of 10,000. That is

NOT a " most stringent inspection system! " I do not consider that " an

abundance of caution. " The government has only been testing cows

showing symptoms of disease, such as downed cows. BSE may incubate in

a cow for 8 years or more without showing any signs of the disease.

Most cows are slaughtered at early ages (2 - 3.) That means that BSE

infected cows could make it to slaughter and to the dinner table

without ever being tested! That is NOT a " most stringent inspection

system! "

 

As BSE is not fully understood and it has been established that the

human form of BSE CAN be contracted from eating meat from

contaminated animals, then how can US beef be proclaimed as

" absolutely safe to eat? " I recognize the government may be trying to

prevent " collateral damage. " This news may seriously affect the meat

industry. That does not mean that government officials should mislead

us. And that does not mean that the media should pass on the

information unquestioned.

 

Please do your best to investigate this incident and the disease

itself and then share the true facts with us, your viewers.

 

Thank you!

 

Sincerely,

 

Jeff Rogers

Seattle, WA