Conspiracy theorists. What would we do without them?

I read some of the articles and it does worry me. The government is notorious for covering up their incompetence. It is better to be safe than sorry.

I love the '03 Cargle cartoon! The man is brilliant!

Foolhardy to think we can keep tainted beef from our food supply. People walk across our border, drugs are brought in by the truckload, you don't think meat suppliers aren't going to try to sell their beef, good or bad, here? Our inspectors can't catch it except by accident.

If you eat beef, at least make sure it is very well done or don't eat it until we are all sure that the disease has been wiped out.
.

Let's keep this in perspective. There have been only three cases of the human form of mad cow disease in the entire United States, and each patient was believed to be infected outside the country.

Canada just reported a new case of mad cow disease, the 13th in the country, last month in British Columbia. We need to keep vigilant to prevent an epidemic despite growing pressure from the Canadian cattle industry to regain access to the American food market.

Some argue that only a few people have died from the human variant of the disease. Would you want to be the next?

You can count on one hand how many people on this continent have died from mad-cow disease. And that beef was traced to Canada. That is in contrast to the hundreds of Americans who have been sickened by tainted tomatoes and lettuce from unhealthy organic farms. Statistically speaking, I'll take my chances with a steak over a salad any day.

And as far as the "rich variety of soy and plant-based meat alternatives available in our stores," I've tried a soy burger. I liken the experience to taking a bite out of a large, lightly seasoned pencil eraser.

BSE- That’s the stuff in mad cows that turns your brain into swiss cheese if you catch the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. No known cure. None. And it turns out to hide in the bones of cows that the US permits to be ground up in the beef parts.

Think about that.

Here are some telling numbers to consider if you think the U.S is doing enough to protect its citizens from the human form of mad cow disease: The USDA tests approximately one out of every 1,000 cows. In real numbers, only 40,000 cows are tested of the 37 million cows slaughtered annually. Meanwhile, Japan surveys every cow, Europe one in four, and Canada one out of 250. Still think we're doing enough to keep our food supply safe?

There is much info bouncing around the 'Net that is misstated or false. For straight info about BSE, see the Institute of Food Technologists Web site at http://www.ift.org/, the World Health Organization Web site at http://www.who.int/inf-fs/en/fact113.html, or the Centers for Disease Control Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/.

I didn't realize that mad cow disease was still an issue. I thought it was mainly from Canadian beef and that the U.S. government had stopped it from coming into the country. So we still have to be wary? How are we supposed to know if it is safe to feed beef to our families?

I think we all need to lighten up a little about mad cow. It isn't an epidemic, the FDA and CDC are on the job, let's not get all worked up just yet. Funny cartoon, though, we can all agree on that.

"And it turns out to hide in the bones of cows that the US permits to be ground up in the beef parts."

You are misinformed, Phil, the U.S. doesn't allow the brains or spinal cords (where the disease locates in mature cattle) to be used at all in the food chain for humans or animals. And to my knowledge, mature cattle are still being screened.

The truth is that we are lucky. Only a small % of cows get inspected in the U.S. so the chance of a sick one slipping by us is there, we just haven't had it happen. We need a much higher % od cows inspected.