Sunday, November 8, 2009

are you eating beef that's eating poop?

Lovely:
A coalition of food and consumer groups that includes Consumers Union and the Center for Science in the Public Interest has asked the Food and Drug Administration to ban the practice. McDonald's Corp., the nation's largest restaurant user of beef, also wants the FDA to prohibit the feeding of so-called poultry litter to cattle.

Members of the coalition are threatening to file a lawsuit or to push for federal legislation establishing such a ban if the FDA doesn't act to do so in the coming months.

Farmers feed 1 million to 2 million tons of poultry litter to their cattle annually, according to FDA estimates.

Using the litter -- which includes feces, spilled chicken feed, feathers and poultry farm detritus -- increases the risk of cows becoming infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, said Michael Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumers Union. full article

2 comments:

Jacob said...

So my sister served grass fed cow the other day, which would be great, if it tasted good. I have to wonder, however, if I'd rather eat a gamey tasting grass-fed cow or a deliciously fatty shiteater cow...

I think I'd just prefer a deliciously fatty non-shiteater. Can we get that put on labels? It could say, "shitless shank" or "turd-less tenderloin." Or what about "feces free?"

Vanessa said...

there is a lot of money and politics involved in making sure there are no labels

i'm digging feces free. that's funny.