(Liz) wrote in message . com...
"Steve" wrote in message ...

The only things I know about mad cow disease is what I saw on TV and
if I remember correctly, livestock acquires the disease through the
addition of bones (for calcium) to their commercial food. Therefore,
you might also want to ask about foods containing beef bone, bone
meal, or bone powder. If I also remember correctly, mad cow disease is
caused by a protein and processing does not destroy this protein.


The passage of BSE requires the ingestion of affected parts - of which
bones are not part of the issue. Primarily it is brain tissue and
central nervous tissue in the spine. It is not a virus, but rather a
prion, a much smaller particle than a virus which causes the disease.
Globally there have been 153 deaths - 148 of which were in Britain
where the human consumption of brain tissue was common.