feeding fat

adrienne suzanne pape (pape@students.uiuc.edu)
Mon, 11 Nov 1996 21:31:31 -0600 (CST)

(sorry in advance that this is long...)

Just a few notes on the mad cow disease/feeding fat subject:

Scrapie is a neural disease affecting sheep. The complimentary
disease in cows is called bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The
complimentary disease in humans is called Crutzfeldt-Jakobsens' Disease.
All three diseases have somewhat similar characteristics but there have
been no studies that proved that it is the same disease, caught by eating
an infected animal. Actually, the pathogen in scrapie in sheep and the
pathogen in BSE in cattle are completely different organisms. However,
the recent scare in Europe definately had many people worried about
transmission. The pathogen is present in the brain, central nervous
system, and (maybe) visceral organs of the affected animal. It is not
present in muscle, skin,fat, etc. That is why they have banished the feeding
of brain and organs of animals to livestock. Now, instead of using the
whole carcass to feed to another species, they exclude the viscera and brains.
The recent development of many younger people contracting C-J
disease has been very unfortunate. However, there is no research that has
linked it to eating infected beef. Also, the form they have seems to be a
modified version of the "regular" type. Not nearly enough is known about
the three diseases and there is ongoing research concerning the problem.
A side note: there has never been a recorded case of BSE in the US.
As far as the fat consumption issue goes, I agree with Susan. As
long as it is processed (which involves cooking to high temps.) there is
virtually no chance of catching any disease. Weather you choose to feed
animal or vegetable fat (oil) then becomes your own personal decision. It
does sound strange to feed a herbivore an animal-based food product,
however, most livestock operations include some animal by-products as a
portion of the diet. It is cost-effective and not nearly as wasteful.
I am not endorsing nor condemning either decision. Everyone has
to draw their own ethical lines somewhere. (choose to eat meat or not,
buy leather products or not, etc. etc...)
I hope this info helped a little. I don't claim to be an expert
by any means! I'm just relating info I have learned through my classes
here at the university. If anyone has any more questions, I'd be happy to
try to find out the info you need. (My professors LOVE to expound upon
any number of topics!)
Lastly, I apologize for taking up so much space! Hope you all
aren't asleep by now.....

Adie

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"The really happy person is the one who can enjoy the scenery when he
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