Guess Oprah should've waited to sound off on the beef industry:
(CNN) -- U.S. Department of Agriculture officials have traced beef from a cow diagnosed with mad cow disease to four more states and Guam in addition to the four states already announced, the department said Sunday.
The department has recalled about 10,000 pounds of beef that originated from the Vern's Moses Lake Meat Co. in Moses Lake, Washington, where the infected cow was slaughtered December 9.
Risk to consumers from the meat was "virtually zero," according to [Food Safety Inspection Service spokesman] Petersen.
The Agriculture Department and ranchers can assure us carnivores all they want about the low probability of transmission to humans, but all it takes is a few shots on 20/20 or 60 Minutes of the human victims in Britain to convince a decent chunk of the public to take at least a temporary break from eating beef.
Now it seems the industry may have a few of its own "Grade A morons" to blame:
In 1997, the United States banned the use of brains and spinal cords, the tissues that carry the disease, in animal feed. But authorities have acknowledged that not all cattle owners followed the rules.
That's good thinkin'. Sounds like some ranchers are due for a little soap-in-a-washcloth action, "Full Metal Jacket" style.
Now that Mexico, South Korea, and Japan (the top three importers of U.S. beef) have suspended imports, will there be a shift in policy? And even if there is, should the American public trust domestic cattle growers to look after their best interests? Britain and the EU test almost every cow for BSE, and until that mindset takes hold here, I'd stick with the chicken fajitas. Or just skip the middleman and eat the brains straight up.
Delicious brains.
How could I give up beef when The Reverend Horton Heat tells me to Eat Steak?
Isn't this a case of "too little, too late?"
As I understand it, cutting back on beef consumption now would be pointless, since the Pox of the Mad Cow takes years to develop/incubate.
I've suddenly got a hankerin' for Fuddrucker's.