Is mad cow disease being spread from cow to cow because of blood protein in cattle feed?
There’s no science to back up this claim, heard most often from activists with anti-meat and anti-farming axes to grind. It’s true that a blood transfusion can pass the disease from one person to another, but the infectious agent (called a “prion”) thought to cause mad cow disease has never been found in cattle blood. So mixing some of this protein in with cattle feed doesn’t endanger humans or farm animals. And don’t take our word for it: The overly cautious European Union writes: “It has not been possible to detect the presence of the BSE [mad cow] prion in the blood of cattle, either sick or incubating the disease.” 18. Is the risk of mad cow infection any less if I cook my beef thoroughly? Unfortunately, exposure to heat doesn’t kill infectious prions, so your mad cow risk is the same whether you eat a well-done sirloin burger or steak tartare. But it’s important to remember that the overall risk of any exposure is still very, very low. People should be far more worried about an au
