My boyfriend is paranoid about MCD and will only eat beef from Whole Foods because he thinks it is safer than beef from any other source. I am not convinced that it is safer or that other beef is less safe. I found a source of grass-fed beef that is a little cheaper than WF but not much. I personally want to eat beef from the regular supermarket because it's cheaper but I have to say that his paranoia is a bit contagious. What do you all think about the risks of MCD and do you think it is worth the extra cost to get the more expensive meat?

On the list of thiings that I worry about, MCD is not present. It is extremely rare to find a cow with it.

yes it is extremely rare but it is not impossible. That's the same logic used to convince people to fly in airplanes. Just because the chances are good that it wont crash doesnt mean that it isn't going to happen when you are on a plane. It is possible that a cow will be infected, right? How strict are the USA's guidelines? Why do people seem so sure that the beef at the supermarket isn't contaminated. They don't test every cow, in fact they made it illegal for small slaughterhouses to test all their cows (I read an article about a farm who wanted to and was told that they weren't allowed) I don't really know what answer I'm looking for I guess I just wanted to hear some opinions to see if there is a convincing argument out there to go ahead and trust supermarket beef.

Aimee

Hey, more people fall downstairs and die than get MCD or die in plane crashes. Lifes full of risks, you either take em or stay in bed and wait for the ceiling to fall on your head!!!! Nothings impossible. If it bothers you that much then dont eat beef

If it helps, there has never been a case of BSE with organic beef. BSE came about with feeding offal to cows. Since this practise is now banned (I presume in America if that's where you live, at least it is in Europe), I believe the risk is very small.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_cow

3 cases of BSE in the US, 0 cases of vCJD.

You should be more afraid of dying from an infected pimple.

Oh that was funny Nancy!

i understand that it seems like a silly thing to worry about. I guess the fear is in the fact that you don't know you have it until 40 yrs from now when your brain starts to deteriorate. It may seem like 40 yrs from now you'll be old anyway and it wont be a big deal but I eat the way I do in the hopes of living longer and being healthier when I am old. Of course there is a risk in everything you do in life but I just don't want to take unnecessary risks just because the chance of something bad happening when you do a certain thing is low. If one type of beef is safer than I will go with that. I wasn't aware of the fact that no organic beef has ever been found to have it, that is a good sign I guess.

Forty years from now I fully intend to be dead of something else anyhow, so I'm not going to worry about MCD.

Kay

Heh! Or being bitten by a rabid wombat!

I worry about it, too, especially since my children love hamburger meat. Not too long ago, they found another cow with MCD. I try to buy Coleman or organic beef.
It's not easy to find though.

Yeah "safe beef" is hard to find and it is more than 2X the price of supermarket beef. But I am coming to the conclusion that it is probably worth it. Not only because of the lower chance of MCD but also the nutritional value is probably better because the animals are fed better.

I don't intend on being dead 40 years from now as I am only 28 so I am concerned with things that will affect me in the far future. Me eating junky beef is as risky for me as eating sugar because both could kill me before I hit 70. 70 is not old enough for me...I'm aiming for triple digits.

There are over 35 million cattle slaughtered in the US each year. 3 cases of BSE have been found. You have a better chance of winning the lottery than you do of getting meat from a BSE infected cow.
Come to think of it, your chances of dying in a plane crash, car crash, car-pedestrian accident or from an obstructed bowel or food poisoning are all higher than the risk of BSE tainted beef. If I were going to be concerned about dying from food, salmonella and E. coli poisoning would be of greater concern to me than BSE since death from those causes is a far greater probability.

Grass fed beef has a better Omega 3 to 6 ratio, but don't spend twice the money to avoid something that you have a miniscule risk of in the first place.

Right, like I was saying, you've got a better chance of dying from a rabid wombat flying out of an airplane, which just blew up due to a seagull getting sucked into its engine. The wombat coincidentally lands on you, breaking its fall. Somehow you mysteriously survive that impact but are bitten, by the rabid wombat. On your way to get rabies shots you're involved in a tragic accident with a particle accelerator and a rubber band.

I don't really believe in "the chance of something happening" How are those "chances" calculated? If something takes 40 yrs to show up, how do you REALLY know how many true cases there are. Those 3 cows are ones they have found. We DON'T test all the cows, only ones that look sick. Sorry, that is not enough proof for me. Knowing that the government does not really care about our health makes me question the honesty of the way they calculate the chance of us getting MCD. I wish there was some real proof of the safety of regular beef (like more rigorous cow testing) but it seems like we are just supposed to have faith that since the chance is low it wont happen to us. That's just not good enough. I guess for now I will stick to organic and grass fed beef from small farms