News You Can Use
Risks extremely low for mad cow disease
University Relations
News Bureau (662) 325-3442
Contact: Dustin Barnes
Jan. 30, 2004
STARKVILLE, Miss.—With the recently determined case of mad cow disease on American soil, some consumers now are cautious when it comes to the purchase of beef. But is the disease really a public threat or has it been blown out of proportion?
“Generally speaking, it’s an extremely low risk,” said Douglas Marshall, a nationally recognized food science and technology professor at Mississippi State University. “There are far more daily activities that have a higher morbidity and mortality risk than consuming beef.”
Marshall says that, even in Europe and other areas where mad cow disease earlier has been found, the number of reported cases of the human form is very small and the risk of getting the disease remains low.
As for tips on how to avoid eating a mad cow-infected burger, Marshall said the usual precautions taken when preparing beef remain the best course of action. Also, remain vigilant about where purchased meat comes from and purchase only from reputable supermarkets or vendors.
On the rare occasion when consumers may process their own beef, Marshall warns against inclusion in the final product of any nervous-system tissues, including the spinal cord and brain.
“There have been no dead bodies to count due to mad cow disease in the United States,” Marshall says. “There actually are, however, a fantastic number of food-borne diseases that have a much greater risk than mad cow disease.”
A primary example of this, Marshall adds, is the 20-40 percent of the U.S. population that suffers each year from food-borne gastroenteritis. Of these 80 million people, about 5,000 die annually.