Temple Grandin's opinion

[BFW]

Sounded like a lawyer grandstanding for a jury or something to me... Hmmm maybe possible class action suit in the making

[cpallett]

BFW,

I've had the dubious privilege of examining under oath some of the persons responsible for ensuring the 'safety' of these products. Did you know, for example, according to the then Chief of the Medical Devices Bureau that for the first thirteen years of the bureau's existence every single request for enforcement action was refused. Every single one.

Here's something else you may or may not know. Health Canada does not look beyond the information provided by drug or medical device manufacturers seeking a Notice of Compliance to market a new drug or medical device in Canada. As long as the application material is complete, the studies provided by the applicant are considered satisfactory, and the appropriate fee is paid the Notice of Compliance is granted. Standard protocol.

No independent verification of the underlying science is attempted by the regulator. None. It is what is colloquially referred to as the honour system.

You should read the Animal Plant Health Risk Analysis Network's (APHAN) 1996 twenty-nine page risk assessment on the probability of BSE appearing in the Canadian cattle herd. The underlying assumption is that the only way that cattle get BSE is from eating the rendered remains of scrapie-infected sheep. Not from eating infected cattle; only from eating infected sheep (believe me I wish I were making it up). No mention whatsoever of the dangers posed by imported British cattle being rendered and incorporated into calf starter. And you want me to trust the competence of these little beauties? You must have been puffing on something a lot stronger than Justin's blend.

Fortunately for us there are class action lawyers who act as the policemen in the system, because nobody else is, with the possible exception of the consumer. Sad but true.

[BFW]

I will agree that the consumer will make the ultimate decision in these cases. Your statement on society being fortunate that it has class action lawyers around to act as policemen in the system.... really? I should be asking you what you are smoking!!

[perfecho]

Consumers will make the ultimate decision.....true, but in some cases much too late with the facts. Read anything on treatment of prostate cancer lately....at one time asbestos was the wonder mineral....
We do need people digging and looking and questioning. Hell, Duffy would still be raking it in if some smuck media didn't get start digging!

[rkaiser]

I think you need to go after Cargill BTW. Sue em - get a lawyer. They encouraged you to use the shit in the first place and now they dump you like Hanna Montana.

Increased muscle? More like expanded it to absorb moisture. Do a simple common sense test on your own. The consumer does. Watch the water steam off a paylean laced pork chop. I like the term stove pipe drug. Put a stovepipe in a bag o potatoes and fill it with rocks. whala. And BTW and Cargill make a bundle.

Except when the ground floor experimenters and not the Tyson, research scientists follow a load or two of fats from the feedlot to the kill floor. Where the animals exhibit behaviour that can only be attributed to one thing different than their experimental cohorts. Strange behaviour and guess what --- tougher meat.

I feel for you BTW - seriously I do, however blaming anyone but the companies who encouraged you and then dumped your ass is simply silly. You are a follower of the big boys and a price taker. You still have a choice -continue to follow and take the lumps, or step out and do something on your own.

BTW - entertaining to see how you want to sensor the lawyer and tell him he should not be having a personal opinion. LMAO

[littledoggie]

The argument that the science is always correct is flawed. I believe "science" to be a moving target, changing with what we now know as compared to what we knew before. The one thing we can count on is that the science will change. Or morph into something else.

[kato]

Has anyone else noticed that every time there is a commercial for pork or chicken aka G. Weston "free from" products, they make a big noise out of the fact that they don't use hormones?

This should be ringing alarm bells in the beef business.

They make a little note in the fine print that hormones are not used in any pork or chicken in Canada, but that's just to cover their backs.

The big message here is that the competition, which would be BEEF, also known as you and me, uses things like hormones, and by default, just about whatever other things that are out there. The subliminal message is that beef producers feed their animals doubtful things, and don't care about consumer preferences. The truth is that it's mainly the big players that are using it, not the likes of us, even though we get painted with the same brush.

Even with the paylean hogs out there, which are conveniently not mentioned, these other competing meats are using consumer preferences to turn as many people as they can away from beef.

What good does an extra 25 pounds of beef do anyone when nobody wants to buy it? I know I wouldn't want to buy it. Sooner or later, people are going to be turned off by these additives, and I think the packers who have refused to accept that are beginning to realize it.

Clear out the supply that's in the works, quit using it, and everyone will be better off in the long run. One man's "innovation" could be another man's disaster.

[kato]

Nice to hear from you Mr. P. Hope your summer is going well.

[BFW]

rkaiser you need to feel to sorry for me , we are doing ok. At the end of the day it doesn't matter to me that much if we are not able to use these products. What bugs me is the bullshit people will use to drive their agendas. Hell, we will just take the money made from using products such as Zilmax and take it out of the price of feeder cattle anyway. What I would really like to know is how soon will you have that plant at Balzac up and running. That would be a plus for the business. LMAO

[cpallett]

Couldn't agree more Kato.

I was struck by Gerry Ritz's recent comment that the beef cattle industry at $6.5B annually is the second largest source of farm cash receipts in Canada. In 2001 the beef cattle industry was the largest source of farm cash receipts at just under $8B. Hmmm.

Meanwhile, here's something you may enjoy. I sure did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX_-Zoom9Uc