Mad Cow Disease in the United States :: MCD mad Cow disease US Essays

In March of 1996 the British complain industry was dealt an unimagined blow when a European Union commission imposed a worldwide ban on the export of UK beef. The ban was imposed after(prenominal) an eruption of mad cow disease (MCD) in Britain. MCD is the laymen term for bovid Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), a disease that leads to deterioration of the brain tissue in beef and dairy cattle. It is the hypothesized link between MCD and Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD), the similar delineate in humans, which led to the imposition of the export ban on British beef. This ban effectively crippled the UK beef export market in addition to sending a shock throughout Europe concerning beef safety. News of this ban spread throughout the world portraying images of septic cattle stumbling and falling unable to maintain their balance. While the scientific partnership was, at the time, unsure of the nature of the link between MCD and CJD, if any, the effects of the outbreak may have been mu ch further reaching than Europe.It is arguable that trades union America was also doctored to some extent, whether long term or short, by the MCD scares. In the days that followed the ban on UK beef, beef futures in Chicago fluctuated as traders were torn between two economic forces. The starting line was the expected increase in demand. Markets formerly serviced by UK beef moldiness now be filled with beef from other countries. The second impact deals with the adverse effects the outbreak could have on consumer demand. North American consumers were also exposed to a great deal of media propaganda as most, if not all, North American newspapers and television news broadcasts, national and local, carried stories of the outbreak and the fearsome consequences of CJD. If concerns of food safety in the United States and Canada were never of concern on that point would have been no motivation for the United States Department of kitchen-gardening and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to issue statements testifying to the safety of each of the countries respective beef. This paper looks at the short impact of the MCD media propaganda on consumer demand for beef in the United States. collectable to the fact that the supply of beef in the United States is completely chance free, or at very most extreme minimal risk, in terms of MCD and the risk to the beef supply, the scientific side of the story need not be considered.