How Safe Is My Burger? My Fear of Mad Cow Disease

A few weeks ago I was at a barbecue, and one of my friends asked me why I don't eat burgers. Do I really think the meat in this country is unsafe? Or is it a religious issue? I didn't want to answer right then. I don't like spoiling people's appetites or barbecues or peace of mind. But I'm not eating burgers any time soon. I don't know if it's a real risk or not, but Mad Cow Disease gives me the creeps. Just the idea of it . . . And I'm not the only one. I've got a friend in McDonalds . . .

Yep, McDonald's is also unhappy with the Bush administration and its standards for beef inspections. McDonald's worries that the govt. isn't doing enough to protect its citizens
from Mad Cow Disease. The fact is that the US currently tests only 1%
of all slaughtered cows. And it doesn't want to allow farmers to test more.
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/content.asp?contentid=16082

Creekstone Farms Premium Beef is currently fighting the Bush administration for the right to test all its animals for Mad Cow Disease. While a judge ruled in favor of Creekstone, the Agriculture Department is appealing the case and thus delaying any testing.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_5429.cfm

Why? Well take a guess. The large meat packing industry wants to save money. The corporations gave a lot of money to George W. to insure they would not have to up their beef standards. Besides, Mad Cow Disease is a slow-wasting disease that takes six years or more to take effect. And then all that happens is that your brain turns to jello. This has already happened to George, and he hasn't been bothered by it a bit. So what's the problem?

http://www.marlerclark.com/news/firm48.htm
http://www.goveg.com/government_forsale.asp

And a lot of folks think we don't have Mad Cow Disease in this country, but I'm not so sure. Some doctors suspect a lot of Alzheimer's and dementia patients might well have the disease. And others fear that we have a sleeping epidemic on our hands.

http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/node/297