62 Mad Cow Scare From: “Leslie A.L. Borden” <leslie.borden@comcast.net> Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2004 17:49:25 -0500 To: “Tom Woteki” <drwo@woteki.com> Cc: “Cathie Woteki” <cathie@woteki.com> Subject: Mad Cow Scare Tom, Cathie (Tom, can you ask Cathie? I don’t know how often she looks at the “woteki.com” e-mail address), Re this mad cow business, should I forego oxtail stew this winter?  Does the spinal stuff go all the way to the tail?  Also, I know that brains are certainly off the table, but what about other organ meats, like tripe, sweetbreads, and kidneys, just from the BSE perspective?  I know that organ meats are very rich and there are those who don’t like to eat them on account of the cholesterol.   I am assuming that veal is in the same boat as beef for BSE purposes? The more I think about this, the more I think kosher or organic would be better.  With kosher, you at least know the animal wasn’t diseased, but you have to give up on the hindquarter cuts. . . . Thanks, and, wow, it’s great to be able to call on a Major General in the Food Police for this kind of advice. lb From:   agdean@iastate.edu Subject: Re: Mad Cow Scare Date: January 2, 2004 6:38:25 PM EST To:   leslie.borden@comcast.net, drwo@woteki.com, aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Cc:   cathie@woteki.com Leslie, All good questions! Yes, the spinal cord extends through the tail, so I would avoid ox tail stew.  I say this with regret, because my mom’s ox tail stew was always one of our favorites when I was growing up. Organ meats are okay.  What needs to be avoided are the “specified risk materials” -- brain, spinal cord, and the ileum (part of the small intestine). Veal poses another issue.  The disease takes a few years to develop in cattle.  In general the cut-off point that’s used to define higher risk is 30 months (others put it a bit lower at 24 months).  Veal calves are slaughtered at a few months, so they’re well below 30 months.  Meat from milk-fed veal  should be extremely low risk.  Veal from calves fed protein supplements would be a little bit higher risk but less than beef which is itself low risk.  Remember that the positive case was a Holstein – a dairy cow that would have gone to hamburger and not the kind of cuts and quality that you buy. With the changes that USDA just announced prohibiting the use of air injection at slaughter, Kosher and Hallal slaughter will not be an additional safeguard.  The air injection was pretty much phased out already because it had been shown to distribute some brain tissue through the circulatory system.  Most companies had gone to a captive bolt shot into the brain that doesn’t push the brain tissue into circulation. The absolute safest beef and veal would come from grass-fed “natural” or organic sources.  With the new certification systems, I’ve got some confidence that they deliver on what they say they do. Hope this helps, Cathie    From:   leslie.borden@comcast.net Subject: RE: Mad Cow Scare Date: January 2, 2004 6:57:19 PM EST To:   agdean@iastate.edu, drwo@woteki.com, aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Cc:   cathie@woteki.com Cathie, Thanks so much for such a quick and concise response, and for sending it to ATK as well.   Too bad about the oxtails, unless I could find organic ones (fat chance, I suspect), but good to know about the organ meats.  You’re right, I don’t eat a lot of hamburger, and if I ever need ground meat at home, I buy a piece and grind it myself (ah, the hair shirt, start-from-scratch cook strikes again).  Guess I’ll cut out restaurant burgers, though, especially because I like them medium rare – I know, though, that’s not a BSE issue, just a potential e coli and listeria problem.  I take your point on the kosher, as far as slaughter method, but was also thinking about the additional health restrictions of the kashrut laws (I don’t know much about halal).  As to organic, I’ll ask Roy about his meat, but I bet it ain’t organic, however delicious it is, so I’ll focus on your statement that “the risk with beef is low.” And I’m safe for tonight at least:  it’s lamb shanks in the Borden-Veeder household. See you around the (scares you if you know too much) kitchen, lb