1. Food Safety Mad Cow Disease Unit 5 HW-220-02A

2. This week’s seminar –History of Mad Cow Disease (MCD) –What causes MCD and its effect? –How does HACCP continue to guarantee US meat supply is safe to eat? –Fast Food Nation vs. USDA/FDA view of MCD

3. Schlenker, 2007 pg 216 History of MCD –Seen in the UK cows since 1986. –Worldwide exposure came in 1995 when first human case reported in UK. –Connection – eating beef from a cow that had BSE – Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.

4. Schlenker, 2007 pg 216 What is BSE? –A rare neurological disorder in cattle causing the following side effects Disorientation Staring at imaginary objects Kicking & pawing at ground for no reason Decreased milk production Loss of weight despite having continued appetite

5. Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy: An Overview Dec. 2006, Author. Retrieved Nov 16, 2008 http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/bse_disease_info.shtml http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/bse_disease_info.shtml Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD)? –Like BSE, this disease affects humans (typically > 50 yr old) and exhibits similar neurological traits as seen with cows affected by BSE. Dementia Uncoordinated movements Sleep disorders Death

6. Schlenker, 2007 pg. 216 UK v-CJD cases The people who contracted and died from UK MCD outbreak were mostly in their 20’s within 14 months of symptoms. This put the world on alert to track down the cause of MCD.

7. What causes MCD? Prions cause MCD. A Prion is a malformed protein that converts other healthy proteins located in lymph and brain tissue to change shape. Prions can incubate in lymph tissue for 10 or more years before moving to the brain tissue to harm neural tissues Schlenker, 2007 pg. 216

8. Where do these Prions come from? Found in ruminant cattle feed made from scrape pieces of meat/bone, glands, and spinal cords of sheep and cattle. This feed was given to the affected cattle – animal cannibalism. Schlenker, 2007 pg 216

9. What foods should cow eat? Grass Grains Water Cows were not meant to be given meat products from their own species or other animals.

10. What destroys Prions? Prions are not a bacteria or virus. So trying to destroy prions using normal sterilization and heat processes are not possible. BSE Fact sheet July 2006, Author. Retrieved Nov 16, 2008 from http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml

11. Can BSE cattle be detected? There is no signs given off in an animal other than what we described earlier. No immune or inflammatory reactions are seen in host cattle. BSE Fact sheet July 2006, Author. Retrieved Nov 16, 2008 from http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml

12. Can BSE cattle be detected? Incubation period can be 4-6 years. Once infection manifests into symptoms, life expectancy is 2 weeks to 6 months. Only sure way is a post-mortem brain examination of cattle. BSE Fact sheet July 2006, Author. Retrieved Nov 16, 2008 from http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml

13. The US BSE case? In Dec. 2003, the BSE USDA surveillance program found a WA dairy cow was afflicted with MCD. The USDA & FDA activated the BSE Emergency Response Plan and located all of the 2000 tons of affected cattle products and destroyed them. BSE Fact sheet July 2006, Author. Retrieved Nov 16, 2008 from http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml

14. Schlenker, 2007 pg 217 So what has US done with protecting against MCD? The USDA & CDC set up collaboration on ways to prevent the introduction and spread of MCD. FDA was assigned the role to put in surveillance and risk assessment procedures in food manufacturing facilities to prevent contamination.

15. HACCP-1: Guidebook for the Preparation of HACCP Plans (Sep 1999) Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point (HACCP) A process that has been established for juice, meat, poultry and seafood processing in order to prevent foodborne illness. Applying controls at points in a food production process where hazards could be controlled, reduced or eliminated.

16. Schlenker, 2007 pg 217 So what has US done with protecting against MCD? Hazardous Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) was created. The role of HACCP consists of: –Identifying potential contamination processes –Help plant managers control contamination –Systematic testing for presence of dangerous microbes at various production points in manufacturing.

17. BSE Fact sheet July 2006, Author. Retrieved Nov 16, 2008 from http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml HACCP role Banned all cattle feed with animal rendering parts. Created feed test kits for checking ongoing safety of cattle foods

18. Ecoli_Reassessment & Checklist.pdf Aug. 2008. Retrieved Nov 16, 2008 from http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Science/Hazard_Analysis_&_Pathog en_Reduction/index.asp HACCP Collaborative Partner The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is responsible for making sure that meatpacking plants test for hazardous microbes.

19. Ecoli_Reassessment & Checklist.pdf Aug. 2008. Retrieved Nov 16, 2008 from http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Science/Hazard_Analysis_&_Pathog en_Reduction/index.asp HACCP Process Area Checkpoints Grinding Trim/Raw Ground beef Trim Slaughter Regrind Course Ground Patty Forming Enhanced Product (marinated/injected) Mechanical Tenderizing

20. Retrieved Nov 16, 2008 from http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FSIS_Recalls/index.asp How well is FSIS doing with HACCP? In 2007, major changes were announced due to the high number of positive E. Coli outbreaks in a short time.

21. Retrieved Nov 16, 2008 from http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FSIS_Recalls/index.asp How well is FSIS doing with HACCP? In 2007, FSIS found in tested ground beef samples only 0.2% containing E. Coli. In this same year, over 20 major recalls were implemented on 28 million pounds of contaminated ground beef!

22. BSE Fact sheet July 2006, Author. Retrieved Nov 16, 2008 from http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml Who’s Inspecting the Cattle? The Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has sampled over 760,000 cattle for BSE. Only 2 cattle tested positive. Both these cases were animals born prior to ruminant feed being outlawed by HACCP.

23. BSE Fact sheet July 2006, Author. Retrieved Nov 16, 2008 from http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml Who’s Inspecting the Cattle? Every year APHIS inspects 40,000 cattle in targeted areas where disease is likely to be found. Cattle exhibiting nervous disorders are checked as well.

24. BSE Fact sheet July 2006, Author. Retrieved Nov 16, 2008 from http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse/index.shtml BSE Surveillance program Estimates by US government state 4-7 infected BSE cattle for about 42 million adult cattle may exist. The samples measured yearly (40,000 cattle/yr) are from global scientific acceptable standards. Less than 1% of US cattle are tested.

25. Schlosser, 2005 pg 275 McDonald’s Impact on BSE In March 2001, McDonald’s required all ground beef suppliers to supply documentation showing that cattle used for their ground beef did not get ruminant feed.

26. Schlosser, 2005 pg 277,283 Schlosser’s – Today’s Upton Sinclair The author of Fast Food Nation highlighted several areas showing how our government failed to protect its citizens. –Cease testing for Salmonella in School Lunch programs –OSHA Ergonomics – Worker safety –TX legislation affecting worker comp issues

27. Schlosser, 2005 pg 287 Schlosser’s – Today’s Upton Sinclair Highlights the MCD impact is truly unknown since the incubation period can be many years. Current FDA feed rules still allow ruminants to be feed to dogs, cats, pigs, poultry. Cattle feed can still have pig & poultry ruminants

28. Closing Thoughts Can we as consumers be safe to eat our foods? Do ruminant parts create human diseases like dementia, nervous disorders, sleep problems? Should the FDA enforce labeling laws that deal with spelling out what ruminant parts are used? Many thoughts to ponder….

29. http://www.fda.gov/ola/2008/traceability0731 08.html Nov 8, 2008 Action Plan For Import Safety and Food Protection Authorize FDA to refuse admission of imported food if FDA inspection access is delayed, limited or denied; Empower FDA to issue a mandatory recall of food products if voluntary recalls are not effective; and Give FDA enhanced access to food records during emergencies.

30. Wrap up We covered a key few concept of this week’s reading assignment. Remember to make your contributions to the Discussion Board including 2 posts to your colleagues on 3 separate days. Next week we will explore the genetically engineered food.