DIET & HEALTH
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:
The Clinton administration has
proposed ending the conflict of interest
between the regulatory and promotional
functions of the USDA with respect to the
meat and poultry industry by transfering the
Food Safety and Inspection Service to the
Food and Drug Administration. The FDA
staff of 1,000 now inspects 53,000 non-
meat food producers, drug manufacturers,
and makers of medical equipment, while
the USDA employs 9,000 people to inspect
6,100 meat and poultry processors.
Coincidentally, tainted meat that passes
inspection causes an estimated 9,000
human deaths per year and 6.5 million ill-
nesses. The National Cattlemen’s Associa-
tion, American Meat Institute, and
National Broiler Council oppose the plan.
Seventy percent of all deaths in
the U.S. are from causes often associated
with eating meat, according to Public
Health Service statistics, including heart
disease (33.5%), cancer (23.5%), stroke
(6.7%), diabetes (2.2%), arterial diseases
(2%), liver diseases (1.2%), and kidney
diseases (1%). The 4th Biennial Congress
of the Vegetarian Union of North America
and 33rd Annual Convention of the
American Vegan Society recently issued a
joint appeal to American and Canadian
health organizations for increased emphasis
on teaching about the value of a low-fat
vegetarian diet.
Five human volunteers died of
unforseen side effects between August 1992
and August 31, 1993, during clinical trials
of Fialuridine, a purported miracle cure for
hepatitis B that was approved for experi-
mental use on humans after proving harm-
less to dogs. Several other human volun-
teers have developed serious nerve damage.
Dogs turn out to have a natural enzyme that
deactivates the drug, according to clinical
trial director Dr. Jay Hoofnagle of the
National Institutes of Health.
Virginians were stunned over
the Labor Day weekend by news reports
from the county fair circuit about demon-
strations of the use of chicken manure
mixed with grain as a protein supplement
for beef cattle. The manure may account for
up to 30% of a feedlot steer’s diet. There’s
nothing new about the practice: chicken
manure-based “beef fattener” feeds have
been available from most feed-and-grain
depots for more than a decade.
