WHAT ANIMAL PRODUCTS ARE FREE OF PRIONS?
Of even more concern is the fact that we do not know which tissues could carry the infection. Most of the focus of late has been on beef. This is warranted. Although organ tissue carries the greatest risk, animal studies do suggest that meat itself can transmit prion-related diseases. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that milk could also carry disease-inducing prions. Many may recall how some years ago assurances were given that a mother could not pass HIV to her child by nursing. Of course, we now know that HIV can be transmitted in breast milk. Granted, prion diseases are vastly different than HIV. The risk from milk (if it does exist) does appear to be much smaller than from eating beef or cattle organ tissues. Nonetheless, a British BSE expert has pointed out that there has been at least one human case that suggests passage of prions in milk. This was the case of a woman dying with CJD who demonstrated the infectious agent in her colostrum (the type of breast milk made in
