U.S. Beef Is Safe…

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), also known as Mad Cow Disease, is a fatal neurological disease in cattle. It was first discovered in the United Kingdom in 1986. BSE is not a contagious disease; instead, it spreads among cattle through feed containing ruminant-derived meat and bone meal (MDM). In 1997, the use of MDM as a protein supplement in cattle feed was banned in the United States. Designed to break the cycle of BSE, the feed ban, with full compliance, assures the disease will be eliminated. FDA currently reports 99 percent compliance with the feed ban.

On December 23, 2003, the first case of Mad Cow Disease (BSE) was identified in the United States by the USDA. The investigation determined that the animal was imported from Canada. It is important for American consumers to understand the preventative measures the U.S. government and the U.S. beef industry have put into place to ensure that Mad Cow Disease (BSE) never becomes a public or animal health problem.

Research has not found muscle meat or milk to be infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). The U.S. government has strong firewalls in place to help ensure that U.S. beef remains safe from Mad Cow Disease.

In 2003, the USDA banned any cattle unable to walk or showing signs of possible neurological disease from the human food supply. The USDA prohibited from the food supply anything that could possibly carry BSE (i.e., spinal cord or brain).

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease was first documented in March of 1996. Ten people in the United Kingdom younger than age 45 displayed symptoms similar to those associated with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. Researchers initially suspected sporadic CJD. Further analysis showed symptomatic and pathological differences between the two diseases, leading researchers to term this condition variant CJD (vCJD).

Research supports a link between BSE and vCJD. This indicates that vCJD likely resulted from people consuming products contaminated with central nervous system tissue of BSE-infected cattle. The majority of cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) have been found in the United Kingdom.

To date, the disease has occurred predominately in teenagers. All cases have occurred in people under the age of 55.

The Centers for Disease Control and the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center monitor vCJD. There have been no reports of native vJCD in the United States. The one reported case of vCJD in the United States is in a young woman who contracted the disease while residing in the UK and developed symptoms after moving to the U.S.

Safety of U.S. Beef

Proactive efforts of the U.S. government and the beef industry have given American consumers confidence that the safety of U.S. beef is fact not fiction. According to a study conducted in 2004, by NCBA/IPSOS U.S. Public Affairs(1), consumer awareness of issues such as Mad Cow Disease (BSE) has been as high as 96 percent, yet more than 90 percent of U.S. consumers remain confident that U.S. beef is safe.

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(1) NCBA/IPSOS U.S. Public Affairs (Independent research firm), Sept. 2004

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