Guess what's coming with dinner.

You sit down to your favorite Everything looks perfect. The trimmings are there. The beef is cooked just the way you like it. The food groups are well ted, with the portions arranged just so. And the aroma makes it nearly impossible for you to wait for the blessing. But could you be getting more with this meal than you planned? Maybe. Maybe not.

After spending 15 years as a milk inspector in the state of California, my interest is naturally aroused whenever I see or hear news reports about farm animals, particularly cattle. Of course, it would be impossible to mention everything that's been said about animal diseases. But in this article I've tried to include an overview of some of the most recent information-some of which is controversial. My intent is not to turn your stomach to the food on your plate, but to turn your attention to some "food for thought."

Mad Cow Disease 

You may not have heard of mad cow disease, but it has made headlines in England. A fear that eating beef could lead to dementia and death has had Great Britain in an uproar.

Mad cow disease, technically known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, is a fatal degenerative disease affecting the central nervous system of cattle. It's similar to certain neurological diseases affecting humans.

As of August 1991 in the United Kingdom there had been more than 40,000 infected cattle, with about 500 new cases being discovered each week. The general assumption, accepted by the British Veterinary Association, was that cattle died of the disease by eating meat and bonemeal of sheep infected with a scrapie-like agent (scrapie is a neurological disease that affects sheep). The chain of transmission continued as infected cattle were used as feed.

Cattle affected by BSE experienced change in temperament, such as nervousness or aggression, loss of body weight despite continued appetite, and they suddenly started staggering and snapping before dropping dead.

Fear over the mysterious disease was fueled by the death of a Siamese cat named Mac from Bristol who showed symptoms of BSE, whereupon the cat was renamed Mad Mac. The cat had been fed pet food made from a beef carcass. At least 13 more cats have died from the spongiform brain lesions.

As a result of the BSE infection, Britain has taken a number of steps to control the spread of the disease, including prohibiting humans and animals from drinking the milk of suspect animals and destroying all animals showing signs of the disease. A study is also under way to monitor the incidence of human brain disorders over the coming years.

BSE has never been diagnosed in the U.S., but has been confirmed in ireland, France, Switzerland, and in cattle exported from England. However, scrapie (spongiform encephalopathy) in sheep is widespread in the U.S. Meat and bonemeal from cud-chewing animals are used extensively in cattle rations throughout the U.S. and have become common in food for dairy herds.

There is evidence that a disease similar to BSE may be in American cattle, because some cows that died before slaughter were fed to a population of mink, who then developed the mink version of the spongiform brain disease and died.

Difficult to Manage

Most scientists believe that BSE is caused by a prion. A prion is not a virus or bacteria, but a protein. It cannot be cultured, which means there is no test to detect the disease in live animals. And it does not bring about the development of a specific antibody in infected animals. Presently diagnosis is based on observing symptoms and examining the brain of deceased animals. Scientists have also found that the agent is hard to kill, even in very high temperatures (360[deg] C).

Can It Affect Humans?

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) states that to date, no scientific evidence indicates that BSE is a human health hazard. However, concern has been voiced by eminent scientists that there may be a human health risk. The assumption among those concerned is that some change or mutation in the scrapie agent permitted it to infect cattle, and this modified agent has potential to cross other species barriers.

In May 1990 such concern prompted removal of British beef from the lunch menu of one school district serving 70,000 children. Some other schools, hospitals, and retirement homes also removed beef from the menu.

Cattle, mice, sheep, goats, and pigs have died in experiments in which the scrapie agent was given by injection or food. Experiments also indicate that temperatures reached during pasteurization of milk and cooking of meats do not kill the agent.

Cow AIDS

A new virus is hitting U.S. dairy cattle and seems to be prevalent particularly among cattle in the South, according to the United States Department of Agriculture National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa. It's called bovine immuno-deficiency virus (BIV). If it sounds familiar to you, that's probably because its structure and other characteristics are closely related to HIV, the human AIDS virus.

Preliminary research results indicate that the virus may impair the immune systems of cattle, just as the AIDS virus does in humans. A certain PM of cancer (lymphosarcoma, caused by the bovine leukemia virus [BLV]) was also found among infected cattle.

Mild or borderline immunosuppression could be very difficult to pinpoint in dairy herds because the infected animals may be removed for slaughter because of decreased milk production and high blood cell counts in their milk.

USDA researchers say that BIV can infect goats, sheep, and rabbits through blood, but poses no threat to humans. However, Jeremy Rifkin of the Foundation on Economic Trends, a watchdog group, says that infected cattle should not be sent to slaughter anymore, and should not be milked until long-term studies can be done.

Raw Milk and Cancer

I must give a warning about drinking raw or unpasteurized milk. More than a decade ago the Lancet, a prestigious British medical journal, reported that infant chimpanzees fed from birth on raw milk from cows infected with BLV developed leukemia and a particular type of pneumonia. This is significant today because in one group of AIDS patients studied, 63 percent died after developing this same type of pneumonia, although no research has been published making a connection between the AIDS patients and raw milk.

In the United States 20 percent or more of the adult dairy cattle and approximately 60 percent of dairy cattle and beef herds studied are infected with BLV, and most infected cows released the virus in their milk. Also, upon autopsy, malignant tumors have been found in BLV-infected dairy cattle that died of cancer.

Threat to Humans

The United States has a growing problem with BLV-infected cattle. In fact, the U.S. has the second-highest concentration of BLV in the world (only Venezuela exceeds it). Since raw milk from BLV-infected animals has been found to induce leukemia in at least two mammalian species (cattle and chimpanzees), there may be a potential risk for humans in drinking raw milk should it come from an infected cow.

Early research found no evidence that BLV can infect people, but now there have been reports of BLV antibodies found in humans. The USDA maintains that BLV is not of public health significance, but one researcher says that BLV in the United States is one of the gravest public health threats of the century. A controversy surrounds this issue.

The Food and Drug Administration states that many unanswered questions remain about BLV, such as transmission, infectiousness, and whether it's a threat to humans. Some of the questions fueling the controversy are whether pasteurization, which inhibits infection, destroys the aspect of the virus capable of producing cancer. Also, how great is the risk of pasteurized milk being accidentally contaminated with raw milk? If we wipe out BIV and BLV, will we see a reduction of those cancers related to fat consumption? Might it be the viruses and not the fat that are linked to some human cancers?

I believe what should be done at this point in the United States is to pass legislation requiring pasteurization of milk and cheese and a mandatory eradication of BLV in dairy cattle.

Salmonella

Salmonella is still an increasing problem. A wise consumer should assume that meats, poultry, and seafood are contaminated, when purchased, with a bacteria that will rub off on their hands, sinks, counters, cutting boards, knives, etc., and then contaminate the next item touched.

Tests indicate that salmonella is present in from 2 to 45 percent of retail meats. In a study in Georgia, 50 percent of one-day-old baby chicks were found to have salmonella contamination upon hatching, before having contact with feed or the environment. Eating raw eggs is risky, as well as drinking raw milk.

Always buy cheese that is labeled "Made from pasteurized milk." Studies have shown that even when cheese made from raw milk is aged longer than 60 days, the salmonella bacteria survive.

Currently there are more than 2,000 types of salmonellas. One strain (salmonella enteritidis) that can be fatal, particularly for the very young or old, is proving difficult to combat. The main problem is that this strain can be transmitted through a chicken's egg, making it hard to control if equipment, such as egg conveyer belts, is contaminated.

On February 1, 1990, the USDA declared that poultry disease caused by this strain is a serious problem. The number of human cases of poisoning has risen sixfold in the past 10 years. Other countries have experienced even greater levels of salmonella enteritidis, and the World Health Organization has characterized it as an international epidemic of grave concern.

Caveat emptor  ("let the buyer beware") is again becoming the law of the land. Ultimately, a concerned consumer should know that the best protection is to use common sense.

Virgil Hulse, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P.M., is board certified in public health and family practice. He has master's degrees in public health from the University of Michigan and Loma Linda University. Dr. Hulse, a physician in Medford, Oregon, is noted for his extensive study in the area of animal diseases.

Streamlined Beef Inspection

A high-speed inspection process being used in some of the major beef-packing plants in the United States means that inspectors no longer manually inspect every carcass on the production line. Instead, workers do only random checks-sometimes checking as few as three heads out of 1,000.

The new process, called Streamlined Inspection System (SIS), is designed to increase on-line production by 40 percent.

According to the book Beyond Beef, by Jeremy Rifkin, under the new system inspectors examine less than 1 percent of the carcasses (they used to examine every animal), no longer make regular checks of the carcasses for signs of disease, and are no longer allowed to look directly at the carcass or touch it with their hands to check for signs of disease. Instead, meat is viewed in a mirror "through 15 feet of steam and fog" as it whizzes by.

Critics within the federal meat-inspection service estimate that under the new SIS program the rate of unwholesome beef getting the USDA stamp of approval has jumped markedly.

USDA officials argue that beef need not be free of all contaminants. According to officials, "carcasses whose degree of cleanliness is ... within the [acceptable] level are not injurious to health."

Poultry Inspectors Speak Out

Poultry today is processed by high-speed automated machinery to keep costs down, but the higher price, poultry inspectors say, is bacteria and contamination. They add that the USDA seal of approval is no guarantee that chicken today is safe to eat.

* Eighty-four federal poultry inspectors from 37 processing plants in five states were interviewed by Atlanta Journal-constitution reporter Scott Bronstein. Included were inspectors at plants operated by the eight largest poultry companies in the United States. Among the findings:

* Thousands of birds contaminated or stained with feces are shipped every day instead of being condemned, 81 inspectors said.

* Thousands of diseased birds pass from processing lines to stores every day, 75 inspectors said.

* Thousands of contaminated birds are salvaged by cutting away visibly diseased meat and selling the rest-much of which is also diseased--as chicken parts, 70 inspectors said.

* Maggots, especially in summer months, often infest cutting and processing machinery, 47 inspectors said.

* Bronstein told Vibrant Life that he decided to do the interviews "because for the past two or three years I had been hearing more and more complaints about conditions at poultry plants in the South."

* One inspector said, "Chickens we would routinely condemn 10 years ago are now getting right through to the consumer." Most of the inspectors interviewed said they were so concerned that they no longer eat chicken.

* Industry executives and USDA officials told the newspaper that as long as consumers thoroughly cook poultry, there is no danger of food poisoning. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that up to half of the salmonella cases reported are caused by tainted chicken, and as many as 70 percent of the campylobacter (a harmful bacteria) cases.