Mad Cow Madness

If you watch the news here, you get to see Taiwanese politicians hysterically demanding American beef be taken off the shelves because of a second case of Mad Cow disease in the USA.

Now, just to review, there have been two confirmed cases of Mad Cow in the USA. This is out of 70 millions cows or so, with 388,000 animals tested in the last year.

One cow was from Canada. The other was a cow that was born before the new feeding regulations were put in place in 1997, and was found before it could be made into dog food, literally.

Even if the cow was slaughtered, the current procedure keeps meat for human consumption from being in contact with the brains and spinal cord, which are the dangerous parts to eat. Many victims in the UK got sick from such cross contamination from traditional butchers.

Now, a few questions for Taiwanese consumers:

1. How safe are Taiwanese slaughterhouses? It's completely reasonable to be concerned about food safety, but what's the point of obsessing over American beef if your own meats aren't safe?

2. Since traditional butchery practices could be a major cause for Mad Cow in people, what has the Taiwanese government done to modernize these practices in Taiwan? (snicker, snicker.)

3. Here in Taiwan, when you can't finish that dish of pig's brain, what does the restaurant do with the scraps?

Of course, Taiwan should be careful and consider all actions, but hysteria and the use of this for political gain (such as bringing the cameras with you when you decide to launch a diatribe at the appplicable government office) are not helpful.

Disclaimer: I am not a scientist. I also could not tell the difference between the Aussie beef and the American beef at McDonald's. Mea Culpa.