The Department of Agriculture appears to have been successful in convincing most Americans that one mad cow does not an epidemic make. People are not deserting their fast-food hamburgers in droves.
“I think it’s obviously a serious thing, but right now it’s pretty isolated,” said Tom Laudate, a medical researcher from Brighton, Mass., of the discovery of a diseased cow in Washington state on Dec. 23. Though concerned, he was buying a frozen beef entree at a Star Market in Allston, Mass.
“I think it’s hard to find out what to believe about it,” Laudate continued, “because everyone involved seems to have a vested interest in their side.”
But there are plenty of critics of the Agriculture Department who say that if there is one mad cow in this country, there are others. And people who believe that can shop accordingly.
The safest beef is from cattle that have been raised organically, because by law they cannot be fed animal byproducts, which, while banned from cattle feed since 1997, are believed to be the major source of mad cow disease. Organic beef is available by mail-order, online and in some stores.
Whole Foods Market carries naturally raised beef from cows that have been fed a 100 percent vegetarian diet, according to Amber Bicknase, Chicago metro marketing director. Other Whole Foods quality control standards include: the ability to trace each cow back to its place of birth; a refusal to use sick, lame or “downer” animals and ground beef is only from sirloin, chuck or round, Bicknase said.
Wild Oats Natural Market in Hinsdale, and sister store People’s Market in Evanston, carry both organic and grass-fed, natural beef, said Miranda McQuillan, marketing coordinator.
Mendota-based Heartland Meats’ beef also is raised with no animal byproducts. Available at the winter farmers market at the Culinary and Hospitality Institute of Chicago (9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sundays) and at some area stores, including Hyde Park Produce and Joseph Baumgartner Co. on Randolph Street, which is primarily a wholesale meat supplier, but recently began selling retail as well. Heartland products are also sold online at peapod.com.
Beef that is labeled “grass-fed,” but not certified organic, would be another choice. There are no regulations governing what can be called grass-fed, so it can be difficult to ascertain what the animal has eaten. Experts advise asking the butcher or supplier a few questions to assure the meat’s safety:
Has the animal’s feed ever been supplemented with grain or with protein, which might include animal byproducts?
Were the animals “finished” with any grain? In other words, were they fed grain to improve the flavor of the meat before slaughter?
Were the calves weaned with a milk replacer? Milk replacer can contain cows’ blood, which might spread the disease.
Was the animal slaughtered and processed at the same place as conventional cattle? If so, what assurances are there that they are not contaminated?
One other note about grass-fed beef: Because it does not have as much fatty marbling as grain-fed beef, it should be cooked for less time and at a lower temperature.
A local source for grass-fed beef is Grand Food Center in Glencoe and Winnetka, which recently began carrying products from the Grassland Beef Co., said Rick Harness, meat and seafood manager for the stores. (The products are also available online at grasslandbeef.com.)
Kosher beef might be safer than non-kosher because the animals are killed by having their throats slit, rather than being struck or shot in the head, which can scatter brain tissue through the blood stream.
Kosher processors have never used “downers”–cows that cannot walk–a possible sign of mad cow disease. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman recently banned the use of downers for meat.
Rabbi Menachem Genack, head of the division that certifies products as kosher for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, said that such differences “may be mitigating factors but we don’t know for sure.”
Genack said the feed given kosher animals “is essentially the same” as that used for conventional cattle.
For those who plan to stick with conventionally raised beef, it is best to select whole cuts of muscle meat like round roast and filet mignon.
Ground beef, whether it is to be made into hamburgers or is an ingredient in ready-made pizza toppings, meatballs, sausage, salami or bologna, raises greater concern. Commercial ground beef contains meat from many animals and some may have been processed in machines known as advanced meat-recovery systems. To get the last scraps of meat, they crush spinal columns and other bones, creating a slurry.
Before the bones go into the recovery machines, the spinal cord and other nerve tissue, the most likely source of mad cow disease, are supposed to have been removed.
But in 2002 the Agriculture Department surveyed 34 processing plants and found that 35 percent of the meat that had gone through the machines contained spinal tissue.
The Agriculture Department has said that any beef that carries its seal is safe to eat. Critics of the government and of the industry are more cautious.
Making your own ground beef at home is safer than using packaged hamburger that may have been purchased in bulk. It is not difficult if you have a food processor or an attachment to a mixer like a KitchenAid. With a food processor, use the steel blade, but watch carefully so that you do not turn the beef into hamburger puree.
A hand grinder like your mother or grandmother used to use can cost less than $30. (You can also spend more.) It clamps onto a table and has a crankshaft.
These grinders are available in kitchen equipment shops such as the Edward Don outlet store on Elston Avenue, which sells three kinds of hand grinders ranging in price from $25 to $38; it also sells an electric model for $160. Sur La Table stores in Chicago and Naperville sell a manual grinder for $45, and an electric model for $130. Amazon.com sells meat grinders online, as do many other sources.
Another suggestion is to buy boneless beef in a supermarket with staff butchers, and have them grind it.
