Guest guest Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 A few months ago. I had a fairly long conversation with the public affairs department of the canadian food agency responsible for tracking BSE. I was enquiring because of my concerns about BSE in pet food. The BSE infected animal had been sent to a pet food processor. Believe it or not I was told not to worry because the processing would kill the BSE!!!!!!! Yes, this is the department in charge of this matter that is saying this. I was also told that the issue was no health risk because ground up animal protein was not permitted to be fed to 'ruminants' in Canada. But it was fine to feed it to pigs and chickens, because only ruminants could get BSE. When I asked if humans were ruminants, he said no they aren't. When I then asked, " then why are we concerned with BSE in the human food chain if we can't get it " , there was dead silence on the end of the phone. I do not know what to conclude from this other than that the people who are trained to talk to the public on this issue don't have a clue. I would not be surprised to find that this may extend to the rest of the department also. I do still eat small amounts of beef, pork and chicken. I now wonder if they are feeding at fish farms also. I eat quite a lot of salt water fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 I'm surprised to hear this. The news reports all said the animal wasn't sent to normal slaughter because it was sick, but that a small amount of could have gone to dry dog food for a local company after the 'autopsy' (my office mate lives in Morinville, where the dog food company is, and they recalled all the lots of food that may have been infected, although the nature of the slaughter is that the spine and head are removed first, so chances of infection would be extremely slim). I think the 'loophole' is that recycled animal bits can't be used as livestock feed (for instance, you can't grind up sheep & feed 'em to cows), but it can be used in pet food because we don't eat our own cats & dogs or horses. I suppose goldfish are fair game, but they don't live six years... http://www.gov.ab.ca/home/Index.cfm?Page=499 http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/newcom/2003/20030527e.shtml I do know that the fine for feeding cattle dog food (not very economical either) is $250,000 and up to 2 years in prison... Better not bring sugar cubes to the farm! As for farmed fish, this was discussed on the other list quite extensively about 4 years ago. Personally, I avoid farmed salmon for a host of reasons, but mainly because they basically live in their own feces, are infested with lice, and cause damage to wild runs (and besides, I prefer Pacific salmon, whereas even farmed salmon in the Pacific are actually Atlantic breeds). I believe (don't quote me) that they are associated with other health and disease issues, but since I avoid farmed fish, I never bothered to follow it up. Cheers, > -----Original Message----- > From: Rodney [mailto:perspect1111@...] > Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2003 7:13 AM > > Subject: [ ] BSE > > > A few months ago. I had a fairly long conversation with the public > affairs department of the canadian food agency responsible for > tracking BSE. I was enquiring because of my concerns about BSE in > pet food. The BSE infected animal had been sent to a pet food > processor. Believe it or not I was told not to worry because the > processing would kill the BSE!!!!!!! Yes, this is the department in > charge of this matter that is saying this. > > I was also told that the issue was no health risk because ground up > animal protein was not permitted to be fed to 'ruminants' in Canada. > But it was fine to feed it to pigs and chickens, because only > ruminants could get BSE. > > When I asked if humans were ruminants, he said no they aren't. When > I then asked, " then why are we concerned with BSE in the human food > chain if we can't get it " , there was dead silence on the end of the > phone. > > I do not know what to conclude from this other than that the people > who are trained to talk to the public on this issue don't have a > clue. I would not be surprised to find that this may extend to the > rest of the department also. I do still eat small amounts of beef, > pork and chicken. I now wonder if they are feeding at fish farms > also. I eat quite a lot of salt water fish. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 : After my converstion with the department I am prepared to believe that nothing we hear, or are told, can be relied on. So, what little information I have is only as reliable as the original source, unfortunately. --- In , " Gifford " <gifford@u...> wrote: > I'm surprised to hear this. The news reports all said the animal wasn't > sent to normal slaughter because it was sick, but that a small amount of > could have gone to dry dog food for a local company after the 'autopsy' (my > office mate lives in Morinville, where the dog food company is, and they > recalled all the lots of food that may have been infected, although the > nature of the slaughter is that the spine and head are removed first, so > chances of infection would be extremely slim). I think the 'loophole' is > that recycled animal bits can't be used as livestock feed (for instance, you > can't grind up sheep & feed 'em to cows), but it can be used in pet food > because we don't eat our own cats & dogs or horses. I suppose goldfish are > fair game, but they don't live six years... > http://www.gov.ab.ca/home/Index.cfm?Page=499 > http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/newcom/2003/20030527e.sht ml > > I do know that the fine for feeding cattle dog food (not very economical > either) is $250,000 and up to 2 years in prison... Better not bring sugar > cubes to the farm! > > As for farmed fish, this was discussed on the other list quite extensively > about 4 years ago. Personally, I avoid farmed salmon for a host of reasons, > but mainly because they basically live in their own feces, are infested with > lice, and cause damage to wild runs (and besides, I prefer Pacific salmon, > whereas even farmed salmon in the Pacific are actually Atlantic breeds). I > believe (don't quote me) that they are associated with other health and > disease issues, but since I avoid farmed fish, I never bothered to follow it > up. > > Cheers, > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 : Also, since it was months before the lab actually tested the sample from the BSE infected animal, most of the infected product may have already been sold. How long do pet food manufacturers hang on to finished product inventory? No longer than they have to, because it costs them money to hang on to it. The whole thing is scary. But at least we do not seem to have a Creutzfeld- epidemic, as far as I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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