In the light of the confirmed case of BSE in Scotland, is it safe to eat beef?
There have been a number of recent news reports of a case of BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or 'mad cow disease') being confirmed in Scotland.
I was wondering if there are any potential risks to human health from eating beef, either in the UK or elsewhere in the world.
Best Answer
From the linked article, there is a non-zero risk to human health if eating beef infected with the Mad Cow disease.
"There was nationwide alarm following the confirmation of the first deaths caused by transmission of BSE to humans in 1996. At the time there were fears that hundreds of thousands of people might die as a result of eating infected beef.
As it turned out 178 people have died of the human form of mad cow disease, known as Variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD). It is believed that these individuals were genetically more sensitive to succumbing to the disease than the wider population. "
If uncertain, make certain your butcher shop has verifiable traceability of all the meat he/she sell, so you can know where the meat comes from.
I think the information should be publicly available at your butcher shop.
Elsewhere, well, in Europe and North America, the standards are very high, so I would not worry that much; I can't say anything about the rest of the world as I don't know enough.
Pictures about "In the light of the confirmed case of BSE in Scotland, is it safe to eat beef?"
Can mad cow disease be cooked out?
Does Cooking Food Kill the Prion That Causes Mad Cow Disease? Common methods to eliminate disease-causing organisms in food, like heat, do not affect prions. Also, prions only seem to live in nervous system tissue.Is beef safe to eat mad cow disease?
Is the U.S. food supply safe? Yes. To date, there have been no cases of BSE transmission to American consumers associated with beef produced in the United States. This most recent vCJD case represents only the fourth in the U.S. since the disease was first recognized in our country about 2004.Is British beef safe now?
Five types of antelope die in British zoos from TSEs that had been fed commercial cattle feed. Through all of this, the British government continues to adamantly insist that British beef is perfectly safe, and BSE is no threat to humans. 120,000 cattle have been diagnosed with BSE in Britain.Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Luis Dalvan, Karolina Grabowska, SHVETS production, Laker