Cattle feed ban allows cow blood to be fed to calves
Scaremongers, not beef, the real problem
By: Daniel Mindus
Newspaper: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
No good science exists to support certain activists' claims that mad cow disease can be spread from cow to cow through blood protein in cattle feed ("Cattle feed ban allows cow blood to be fed to calves," Jan. 11).
Scaremongers, not beef, the real problem
By: Daniel Mindus
Newspaper: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
No good science exists to support certain activists' claims that mad cow disease can be spread from cow to cow through blood protein in cattle feed ("Cattle feed ban allows cow blood to be fed to calves," Jan. 11).
The infectious agent thought to cause the disease has never even been found in cattle blood. The European Union's Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products writes: "It has not been possible to detect the presence of the BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) prion in the blood of cattle, either sick or incubating the disease."
We shouldn't expect sound science from activists trying to frighten consumers away from eating beef. Whatever their motive, they're often intentionally wrong on the facts.
The conventional meat supply is as safe as it's ever been. The problem isn't the beef: it's the scaremongers.