Dear Family and Friends


BSE BS

Monday in a UK paper The Independent, there appeared a short article about "Mad Elk" in the US. Most disturbing was a comment by Ronnie Cummins of the Organic Consumers' Association. He indicated, "It's here (referring to BSE). They are starting to make noises about it now in the last days of the Clinton administration because they know it is going to burst into the open on the Bush watch. It is one thing that is going to bring the new administration down."¹

Partisan politics aside, most of us are very tired hearing about Clinton's sexcapades, dirty deals, slippery negotiations and national security secrets handed to China. However, if he and his administration suspected we have BSE in the cattle and looked the other way while it entered our food chain, we can only hope he has a spot reserved right next to Hitler.

It is increasingly evident that self-education about these diseases is mandatory or we may wind up dead. We're not meaning to be dramatic, but there's no way to soft-pedal something this serious. Education requires continuous diligent searching, not reading a couple of articles and feeling like an expert. New data on the different TSEs (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies) emerge daily. Reading a wide range of sources is the best assurance against false data and disinformation. The more you read, you'll see a pervasive "no worries mate" attitude. Look where that got Europe.


AWARENESS

The first step in preventing disaster is having reliable information. It's imperative to separate fact from fiction and to do so, we must be assured we're being told the Truth.

The question is, are we?

It's doubtful since some of the groups funding Mad Cow and Chronic Wasting Disease research are those with the most at stake should bad news surface. As we saw last week, Britons were lied to by their government for more than a decade and the results were deadly. It may be many years before the full impact is seen. We have to wonder if the same scenario is being played out in the US, Canada and Australia. Are we being kept in the dark? Source: CJD Foundation

Every month the nonprofit CJD Foundation runs a "quick" poll. It is neither scientific nor representative and is voted on by those stopping at their web site. Last month's short poll shows there is a strong feeling among people that folks in their own communities are largely unaware of CJD - the human form of these diseases. Surprised when so much information has been in the news? Later in this newsletter, you'll read that not only are some people shockingly uninformed, they just flat don't care.

The responsibility to stay on top of this mess lies with each one of us. We must read and learn as much as possible in order to live safely and care for our families.

The guy on the right was told he should just rely on what authorities tell him about the safety of his food, that CWD can't jump specie into cows, that his blood supply is completely "clean" and he has no worries. Hey, we have no control over this fellow. His reaction was completely unrehearsed. Think he believes?


COULD MAD COW HAPPEN IN THE US? OR CANADA? OR AUSTRALIA?

The simple answer is "yes", but it may not be as likely to occur here because of the controls placed by the USDA's (US Department of Agriculture) Food Safety Division and APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service), CDC (Center for Disease Control), FSIS (Food Safety and Inspection Service), ANZFA (Australia New Zealand Food Authority) and CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency). Officially, there have been no cases of BSE in America, Australia and New Zealand. The one case that showed up in Canada was a British import which was subsequently destroyed along with all others in its herd.

Australia, Canada and the U.S. have taken precautionary measures to keep BSE out of their food chains. Hopefully the actions are "enough" and they've not been instituted too late.

*This same ban on British blood donors is also practiced by Austria, Belgium, France, some German states and Switzerland.
**Allowed the use of products believed to pose a minimal risk of BSE transmission. These products included blood, blood products, gelatin, milk, milk products, protein derived solely from swine and equine sources, and inspected meat products which have been offered for human food and further heat processed for food, such as plate waste from restaurants and other institutions.


BIG BUCKS AT STAKE - WHERE'S THE BEEF?

There's an old American saying that goes, "He who has the gold makes the rules." In Australia there is a similar saying, "He who eats my meat dances to the tune I play." Let's hope this doesn't apply to informing the public about TSEs as certain industries would have a lot to lose.

During 12 months of 1998-1999, 10 million head of cattle in Australia were slaughtered for human consumption. Australia produced just a shade over 2 million tonnes (2.2 million tons) of beef - up 3% from the previous 12 months.

That 10 million head does not include cattle culled for boiling down for a myriad of purposes nor animals condemned to death due to illness or injury.² Australia's beef industry is estimated to be just over AU$4 billion, based on 1998 sale prices.

$4 billion is quite a tidy sum, but we nearly fell over seeing the stats for America. Granted there are 15 times the number of people in the States, but the bucks in bovines are staggering.

We don't want to bore you with stats, but to get abetter understanding what's going on and who wields mighty influence, it's important to see who has the most at 'steak,' so to speak.

Even with a push from doctors to eat less red meat and replace it with vegetarian dishes or fish or poultry, Americans love their beef. Some growth in the chart below must be attributed to an expanding population, but beef is a huge part of the American diet.