I RECOMMEND YOU READ THIS IMPORTANT BULLETIN: It could save your or someone you loveslife IMHO...
There is now strong evidence that so-called Mad Cow Disease, more
accurately called Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) is,
in fact, in the United States food chain, and, further, that many
people have actually already died of the similar disease transmitted
by it, new-variant Creuzfeld-Jakob Disease (nvCJD), in which the
brain decays into a sponge-like consistency. The symptoms of nvCJD
are identical to those of Alzheimer's Disease.
This is what we know about BSE in the U.S.:
1. A variant of TSE does exist in the U.S. Called "downers" by
cattlemen, there are cows and calves which simply fall over, don't
get up again, and die within a few days. About 100,000 cows per year
die of this affliction, which is similar, if not identical, to some
of the early reports of TSE in Great Britain. When feed derived from
some of these "downer" cows was fed to minks (an animal subject to
the disease), a large percentage of the minks succumbed to spongiform
encepthalopathy. Experiments confirming that the disease was
transmissible between minks and cattle were done by the USDA.
2. Humans can get nvCJD merely by eating meat from an infected
animal. Cooking cannot make the meat safe. Furthermore, infected meat
can potentially contaminate the surfaces of meat processing, cutting,
or slicing equipment, possibly spreading the disease carrier to non-
infected meat.
2. Some percentage of the people currently diagnosed as dying from
Alzheimer's Disease actually have nvCJD, according to several autopsy
studies. The numbers in these limited studies indicate already
epidemic proportions in people exposed 10-30 years ago, between tens
of thousands and hundreds of thousands of cases. (It takes that
amount of time for the disease to progress.) Many more people may
already have been exposed.
3. The disease can be spread through the re-use of infected
carcasses. Cattle and pig carcasses - including those from "downers" -
are processed in "rendering plants" into high-protein feed
additives. Until 1997, these additives were used in cattle feed, and
it is believed (from the experience in Great Britain) that this is
the route of transmission of the disease.
4. In 1997 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stopped use of
cattle carcass remains for feeding cattle, but allowed these remains
to be used for feed only for other animals, such as pigs, chickens,
and domestic pets, and continued to allow non-cattle carcass remains
to be fed to cattle. However, it is known that other animals can get
Spongiform Encephalopathy. Pigs in particular are known to be subject
to the disease. Since it is transmissible between species - that, for
instance, pigs could get it from eating cattle remains and vice
versa - there is no reason to believe that the current restriction is
protective of public health. Dr. Michael Hansen of Consumers Union
has openly challenged the FDA on this issue.
5. The disease carrier, believed to be something called a prion,
cannot be destroyed by cooking, and is extremely persistent to
heating and other processes used in rendering carcasses into animal
feed.
The implications of this problem are enormous. There is no way to
know what meat is infected and what meat is safe. Potentially
millions of people are affected.
A detailed explanation of the above can be found in Rachel's Health
and Environment News #607.
In light of this evidence, as editor and publisher of the Health
Alert Website, I am going to make some recommendations. The
government and the meat industry, in my opinion, is playing Russian
roulette with our health.
What You Can Do
1. Avoid eating meat, especially beef and pork. Seek alternative,
high-protein vegetarian alternatives. Children especially should be
protected from this threat, since nvCJD would manifest during the
prime of their lives - 10-30 years after exposure. Young adults, some
in their 20s, are dying of this disease in Great Britain. (There are
other good reasons to avoid meat; see other pages on diet and health
at this website).
2. Promote the shutdown of the animal rendering industry. Since we
cannot measure the safety of rendered carcasses, there are no safe
uses. Furthermore, because of the persistence of the likely disease
carriers, there are persuasive reasons to pass national legislation
that would guarantee cremation of all animal carcasses.
3. Call your legislators, both in your state and at the federal
level, and ask them to promote a ban on use of rendered animal feed
products and promote legislation that would guarantee the safe
destruction of animal carcasses. Call the FDA Commissioner and U.S.
Department of Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, and ask them to ban
the use of rendered animal products for animal feed. Tell them to
mandate testing of every farm animal in the U.S.
4. Tell your friends and neighbors about the problem. Print this web
page and show people who do not have access to the Internet. Send
electronic mail to friends with the URL of this page:
cqs.com.
5. Find out more information about TSE diseases. The Sperling Medical
Foundation's "Mad Cow" website has the most information of any place
on the Internet: cyber-dyne.com. |
