Effect of Mad Cow Disease - Research Paper Example

Mad Cow Disease It is a well known fact that global food industry is continually changing and is faced with various challenges to meet the needs of consumers, who are increasingly demanding a wider variety of higher quality products. The meat industry especially has faced several challenges over the years. The key events that formed the world meat market in the last decade include the change in trade policy regimes ushered in by the 1995 Uruguay Round Agreement in Agriculture, the macroeconomic crises in Asia and the Former Soviet Union in 1998 and the series of animal disease outbreaks in major livestock producing regions in Asia and the European Union (fapri.iastate.edu, N.D.). However, these challenges have aided in stringent policies and regulations in this industry. Recent outbreaks of Mad Cow disease have caused the Meat industry to improve its inspection processes. This research paper examines how this disease has affected the hospitality industry and how it has helped to change its policies and inspection processes. Mad Cow Disease is the common name for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) that was first recognized in the United Kingdom in the year 1986. In simple terms it the name “mad cow disease” came because it affects a cattle’s nervous system. It is a chronic, degenerative disorder affecting the central nervous system of cattle. The main culprit of the cause of this disease is the rogue proteins, known as prions that reproduce inside the brain of the infected cow. Once the disease progresses, the brain attains a sponge nature and hence it is also termed as "spongiform". In fact BSE is categorized to a group of progressive, degenerative neurological diseases known as Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies or TSEs. The other disease in this group includes scrapie, which affects sheep and goats and has symptoms similar to BSE. As of now there is no cure for BSE (Department of Primary Industries and Water, 2008). If we look at how BSE can have an impact on human beings, it can be said that it pose a significant threat tour health and there is very strong indication that eating of meat or meat product from a BSE infected animal can cause a similar disease in humans as well. In humans this disease is known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease or in short vCJD. The scientific community has still not found a cure for this disease and is fatal in nature (Department of Primary Industries and Water, 2008). In the food industry this disease have posed significant threat and could seriously affect both export and domestic markets for cattle and cattle products. Additionally it is also possible that it can have a serious impact on jobs and businesses in the meat industry and its various support industries. It could also have a considerable effect on the tourism and hospitality industries. Since there is no cure for this disease, the only options is slaughtering the affected animal. Since its initial outbreak, food industry has formulated various policies (Department of Primary Industries and Water, 2008). One of the major problems with this disease is the identification of the affected animals. Contrasting the Foot and Mouth Disease that spreads rapidly if not controlled, BSE spreads comparatively slowly. Besides it is found that both BSE and its human counterpart, vCJD, have an unusually long incubation period. In other words if a human is diagnosed with vCJD, it might be the result of eating infected animal probably up to twenty years earlier. This makes tracing of the disease source much more difficult (Department of Primary Industries and Water, 2008). Mad Cow Disease is possibly one of the most significant food-safety-related issues to have troubled the hospitality industry in recent years. In the United Kingdom, where the disease was first identified and had extensive effects, the consequence for this industry have been characterized as catastrophic—yet little experiential facts supports this. Definitely it affected the food industry and the revenue that is generated from it. Even though restaurants failed experience a drastic recession in income subsequent of the outbreak of Mad Cow Disease, the overall sales of beef items turn down. On the other hand the restaurants feature few or no beef items experienced stronger overall sales (Reynolds, 2003). According to Christine Bruhn, director of the Center for Consumer Research at the University of California, Davis, it was said that “even in the short term consumers have not been very concerned about BSE,” and she further explains the reason behind this may be the knowledge that “backed by science that these infectious materials are not transferred by muscle tissue but by spinal cord and brains, and most people are not consuming those products.” It is estimated in a study that more than half (53%) of the survey’s respondents say they agree with the statement, “The chance of contracting mad cow disease is too low to worry me.” On the other hand, this assurance is not essentially a result of consumers’ trust in foodservice operators’ food-safety dedication. Further, only 16% of the respondents agree with the statement, “I’m not worried about mad cow disease because restaurants effectively monitor food they serve.” This shows that consumers have trust in the food industry with respect to food safety. Another reason may be the policies in this industry which is a part of the industry from years. This study also pointed out that even consumers in the lowest household-income bracket agree that restaurants effectively shield them from mad cow. Almost one in five that accounts to 18% with incomes of $25,000 or less agrees with the above statement. On the other hand 11% of those whose incomes are between $75,000 and $100,000 do not agree with the statement. This study also pointed out that over one-third or 39% of consumers say they intend to closely monitor news reports about the disease. However, even among these people only a few are willing to change their eating habits (Perlik, 2004). Almost all the countries take utmost precaution while importing meat and meat products in scanning for BSE. Fro instance, USDA’s in the late 1980’s when there was an outbreak of this disease in UK, it instituted a serious first line of defense to avoid BSE from infecting U.S. cattle herds. Additionally, even before the human health consequences were even known, to protect U.S. cattle herds, the USDA prohibited the import of ruminants (cattle, sheep, and goats) and ruminant by-products from the United Kingdom and other countries where BSE had been found (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1998). Further in 1997, USDA also banned import of meat from all of Europe. This proves that the U.S. government has been very proactive to prevent mad cow disease from infecting its animal population. As a result of this precaution, it has paid off both for consumers and for the meat industry. Secondly, besides the import policy, the meat industry also has taken up adequate precaution. For instance, until the1998, many slaughterhouses shocked their cattle with an air-injection rifle before killing them (David and Stephen, 1997). It is only after the study by CSPI it was found that the explosive blast of air could disperse brain tissue throughout the carcass thereby increasing the chances of infection. Initially, after several studies the meat industry confirmed the risk of spreading brain tissue using this type of stunning equipment. Later, all the companies willingly altered to safer devices. Manufacturing of the air-injection stunning equipment is also stopped in the U.S. (Testimony of Caroline Smith DeWaal, 2001). Though these initiations have been very significant a lot more need to be done in order to protect consumers around the world from the crisis. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the duty for reassuring the safety of cattle and cattle products that could transmit BSE from cattle to humans. The following is a brief account of some matters synchronized by FDA: “Gelatin which is an animal protein is made from the hides and bones of cows and pigs. Fro example, products such as Jell-O® gel and gummy bears soft and pliable are made from gelatin. Besides, it is also used as a thickener in food items such as yogurt, ice creams, and other foods. The pharmaceutical industry is known to use gelatin in the capsules, gel caps, and coatings of many over-the-counter supplements and prescription drugs. There is a concern that if gelatin is made from the BSE infected animals might be harmful. However this fear is not true as the skin and hides do not carry these infections. It is only the brain and the spinal cord that are involved in the disease. According to the WHO studies bones do have a low infectivity because of the bone marrow, according to the World Health Organization. Still as a precautionary method, in the year 1992 the FDA asked gelatin manufacturers to restrain from the use hides and bones from cows that were raised in countries where BSE has been found. Hence the hospitality industry takes precautions to avoid any risks and also undertakes inspections. Food companies use the gelatin to make desserts and candy and it is prepared from pig skins, not cow hides or bones (Testimony of Caroline Smith DeWaal, 2001). Cattle by-product is also used to make vaccines. FDA in the year 1993 asked vaccine manufacturers to restrain from importing animal products from countries where BSE has been found. It also asked the industry to stop the purchase of cattle products from countries where adequate surveillance for BSE is absent. Toll date there is no indication of the world’s cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease caused by BSE contaminated vaccines. Additionally the U.S. Public Health Service recommends that children and adults go on to be immunized (Testimony of Caroline Smith DeWaal, 2001). It was also found by the WHO that glandular dietary supplements are made from animal glands. For example, Rejuvex, is marketed as a tonic for menopausal women, contains extracts from cow mammary, ovary, uterus, adrenal, placenta, thymus and pituitary glands. These glands can be a potential source for the spread of infection and can contain infectious prions. Supplement-makers have stopped the use of cow organs from countries where BSE exists. Above all there are also the National Nutritional Foods Association which is a trade group of 4,000 health food and supplement producers, distributors, and retailers. They are insisting on to eliminate all cow neurological tissues from their dietary supplements (Todd, 2001).” In conclusion, it can be said that the recent outbreaks of Mad Cow disease have caused the Meat industry to improve its inspection processes. There are stringent policies for import and use of cattle and cattle products for various purposes. It is very important to create awareness not only in United States but also other countries of how to prevent the spread of mad cow disease. Intensive research is also underway to find solutions for these problems. References Department of Primary Industries and Water, (2008) Mad Cow Disease (BSE) - Frequently Asked Questions, Retrieved on 11 April 2008 from http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/EGIL-5HE7Y7?open fapri.iastate.edu, Animal Disease Outbreaks and Their Impacts on Trade, Retrieved on 12 April 2008 from http://www.fapri.iastate.edu/bulletin/Oct2000/AnimalDiseaseOutbreaksAndTheirImpactsOnTrade.htm Perlik, A. (2004) Part 3 of 3: How Now, Mad Cow? Retrieved on 11 April 2008 from http://www.rimag.com/archives/2004/03a/special-report-3.asp Reynolds, D. (2003) Mad Cow Disease: An Empirical Investigation of Restaurant Strategies and Consumer Response, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, Vol. 27, No. 3, 358-368. Schardt, David and Schmidt, Stephen, (1997) Mad about BSE, Nutrition Action Healthletter, Vol. 24, No. 6, July/August 1997. Testimony of Caroline Smith DeWaal, (2001) Hearing on Mad Cow Disease: Are Our Precautions Adequate? Testimony of Caroline Smith DeWaal, Director of Food Safety before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Retrieved on 13 April 2008 from http://www.cspinet.org/foodsafety/madcow.html Todd, Z. (2001) Group Says Cow Tissue in U.S. Supplements Risky, Reuters Health, March 19, 2001. U.S. Department of Agriculture, (1998) U.S.DA Actions to Prevent Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), April 1998. Read More