text: There has been a big scare in Britain recently that some beef may contain BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) which may lead to the human equivalent of CJD (Creutzfeldts-Jacob disease).
  
  BSE is a disease in cows that effects their brain and spiral tissue (or offal as it is sometimes known). After a few reported cases of CJD, a similar form of the disease found in humans, it is know thought that 'mad-cow disease' (BSE) is the cause. Researchers believe that eating beef containing offal will transmit the fatal disease to humans.
  
  This claim has devestated the British beef industry as people are now too scared to eat beef in case they contract the illness. Already the sales of beef in America have dropped by about 15 % and in Britain they have dropped about 6 % - 7 %.
  
  Although scientists say that to contract CJD part of the cows offal must be contained within the beef. customers are still reluctant to eat the meat incase it has come from some 'dodgy' butcher trying to cut costs. As you can imagine this has had a tremendous inffluence on sales in places such as fast food restaurants where beefburgers are the main item on the menu. An example of one is MacDonalds where they have immediately brought out a notice stating that their beefburgers are made from 100% of the finest, pure beef and contain no offal.
  
  In my views no half decent restaurant with a good reputation would risk buying poor beef in case a customer caught CJD and they managed to trace it back to the restaurant. An outcome like this would mean they would be sued for several thousands of pounds and would probably have to sell up.
  
  As a result of a lower beef demand in places of food production there would be a lower need for beef cows. This means that there would be an excess of beef (or a beef mountain) that could not be sold. Because of this the prices of beef would have to decrease in order to attract more customers. So, as a result of the claim that beef containing contaminated offal may cause CJD in humans, farmers (in particular beef farmers) are losing out as they will have to sell their meat for a lower price due to the low demand. As a result they may have to diversify towards other areas such as crops, milking cows, etc. or even have to get a government subsidy.
  
  I feel that the evidence that BSE causes CJD was not strong enough before the claims were released. It has therefore caused an unnecessary, deleterious effect on the agricultural industry and beef market.
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