Mad Cow/Pet Food

[pat]

Originally Posted by coaster

Sure it's about money. Business generally doesn't do anything that will eat into the profit margin unless they are forced to by regulation.

Not so in my practice or experience with some of the companies I purchase wholesale from...not to hijack this thread though.

 

[pat]

Originally Posted by jcat

Let me put it this way - the WHO is an international organization which doesn't appear to depend on hearsay reports or self-aggrandizement, so I trust its conclusions more than the personal opinions of self-proclaimed experts. As far as beef is concerned - the doubts many people have regarding its safety could also be extended to mutton/lamb (scrapie) and venison, so those who are particularly concerned may want to take advantage of meat products from organic farms.

Well said, thank you. And thank you for that link which I'm off to read. XoCats - I will post another link for you, of a 2004 study, describing the number of cases of Alzheimers Disease (AD) in India, and why they think it is *lower*...it does still occur there.

 

[pat]

click here for 2004 report on various forms of dementia including AD in India and
interesting article re tumeric in curry and AD

Yum...I love and use curry powder often

 

[xocats]

I love curry too but I really don't know how to use it in my cooking. I'll have to look into ways to use it more often. Thanks for the great link. This subject is fascinating.

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

click here for 2004 report on various forms of dementia including AD in India and
interesting article re tumeric in curry and AD

Yum...I love and use curry powder often

 

[jcat]

CNN currently has a story about the risk of mad cow disease in the U.S.:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/06/25....ap/index.html
I don't know - this is something I'm a bit concerned about, because I live in Europe, and remember the total panic, and dire predictions of a pandemic of vCJD a decade ago, but that has failed to materialize. My state seems to average about one positive BSE test a month, and, oddly enough, a goat tested positive for it (not scrapie). There have been no reported cases of FSE here. I tend to buy cat food either from North America, or that made from "organic" meat. We now have a few local brands of the latter.
I don't believe you can rule out all danger to your cats, but it seems to be very small, and, as I mentioned above, I'm not absolutely certain that other meats are safer than beef, if, as the theory goes, cows originally got BSE from being fed animal (sheep) meal, and deer can suffer from CWD. Avian flu has also managed to "jump species" in Asia.

 

[xocats]

Thanks for the CNN link JCat.
It is reassuring to know that the downer cow found last year, was kept out of the animal food-supply chain. I agree with your assesment about meat in general.