There was some discussion of BSE on another thread (which was completely off topic and getting a bit nasty) and there were some comments that were very wrong there. I thought it would be interesting to see what folks know and think they know about this.
One of the comments I read was that there is no legislation in Canada about what can be fed to cows, and that Canada has more instances of BSE than the US. Both of those statements are untrue. Canada has more cases of BSE reported because their scanning is more rigorous since the first outbreak a few years ago. As far as legislation around feeding cattle ground up "stuff" well that hasn't happened here for a LONG time. I for one am quite grateful that they are finding it. Someone I know works for our goverment here and has been instrumental in creating a tracking system for the feed and sale of cattle. He is a wonderful resource.
The other comment that caught my eye was that the beef in the US is all "homegrown" beef. Not at all. Lots of your USDA prime cuts come from right here in my home province. Alberta ships tons of beef to the US. Just because it is labelled USDA doesn't mean it comes from the US, just that it has passed your inspectors.
The biggest myth I think I have seen about BSE here on the boards (and elsewhere) is that you can get BSE from eating a steak. Just can't happen folks. The only way you can get BSE is if you eat the brains or spinal cord of an infected animal. Ick. I'm not big on cow brains myself.
Just wondering what is going on in other folks brains. Heh heh...no pun intended there.
One of the comments I read was that there is no legislation in Canada about what can be fed to cows, and that Canada has more instances of BSE than the US. Both of those statements are untrue. Canada has more cases of BSE reported because their scanning is more rigorous since the first outbreak a few years ago. As far as legislation around feeding cattle ground up "stuff" well that hasn't happened here for a LONG time. I for one am quite grateful that they are finding it. Someone I know works for our goverment here and has been instrumental in creating a tracking system for the feed and sale of cattle. He is a wonderful resource.
The other comment that caught my eye was that the beef in the US is all "homegrown" beef. Not at all. Lots of your USDA prime cuts come from right here in my home province. Alberta ships tons of beef to the US. Just because it is labelled USDA doesn't mean it comes from the US, just that it has passed your inspectors.
The biggest myth I think I have seen about BSE here on the boards (and elsewhere) is that you can get BSE from eating a steak. Just can't happen folks. The only way you can get BSE is if you eat the brains or spinal cord of an infected animal. Ick. I'm not big on cow brains myself.
Just wondering what is going on in other folks brains. Heh heh...no pun intended there.