----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Marshall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2001 6:12 PM
> Actually, steak should still be safe. It is true that prions (the
> mysterious little critters that seem to be the cause of BSE) are not
> destroyed by cooking temperatures but I'm sceptical that a person could
> get nvCJD (BSE in people) from a steak exposed to prion "infected"
> matter. Prions, like e Coli, can't get "into" a steak. Ground meats
> are something entirely different as the infected matter could be ground
> into the final product.
That is correct.
I think the biggest danger is in meat products made from ground beef - e.g.
mince, and in turn burgers - which have to be the prime suspect for vCJD.
>
> Bottom line is: I'll be reasonably confident in North American beef in
> general but might be sceptical of ground meats in other places. God, I
> hate to think of visiting Europe and not sampling the local (beef)
> sausages, though! [pork is generally OK, right?]
I wouldn't bank on sausages being safe either.
BSE was caused by feeding livestock feedmeal made from processed organic waste
including spinal cord material. This feedmeal came in bags, and was widely used
to feed feeder cattle. Pigs of course will eat virtually anything, so it is a
safe bet that they would have been fed with the same food material containing
the BSE prions. The difference appears to be that the prions manifest themselves
in cattle as BSE, whereas they might still be inert or dormant in pigs. Pigs
could still be a "carrier" for BSE though, and transmit the disease through e.g.
sauages to cause vCJD later in the cycle.
As an aside - the largest outbreak of BSE related vCJD occured in a small
village in England less than 2 miles from where I was raised. I don't think I
have gone mad yet though :-)
That's it - off to get my soya cookbook tomorrow!
Adrian Cooper.
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