I have searched all the major stores in Mokpo, and in Gwangju, that usually stock Kraft parmesan cheese only to find, in a few stores, tiny containers of a FAR inferior product called Paesano, (I think), that's from Italy, (I think). First of all let me warn readers who may have access to this product, in desperation I bought some of it and it tasted like plastic. And the danger of ruining a pot of spaghetti by sprinkling this stuff on it FAR outweighs any danger I certainly will NOT expose myself to by consuming THIS cheese.
My buddy Kasia and I recently went to downtown Gwangju on May 18th. We saw a very large protest against American beef. We saw videos on truck mounted entertainment systems "educating" the people on the closed-to-traffic streets of downtown Gwangju on mad cow disease. We saw political cartoons about it, people of all ages lighting candles in protest against it, letters such as this about it, and people who were just plain angry about it. Then we went into a completely deserted nearby Burger King and enjoyed our Whoppers in quiet solitude.
What we DIDN'T see were any people honouring the memories of protesters who were killed in the Gwangju uprising in 1980. This is a very important event in Korea, especially in Gwangju. They just call it "oh il pal", which means "5 1 8". They even sell cola called 5/18 cola. I think you might be able to get orange 5/18 pop too. I would say that if concern about mad cow disease has grown to the point where the people of Gwangju are not going to Burger King, not honouring their relatives who died for democracy during the uprising, and taking one of MY major food staples off the shelves, it's to the point of hysteria.
But, apart from unnecessary to incite Korean protests, what are the facts? Here are a few:
1. Korean beef is more expensive than American beef. Up to 4 times as expensive.
Koreans have a belief called 신 토 불 이. That's "sintoburi". It's the idea that when Koreans eat food that is raised in Korea, it's better for Koreans. Because ancestors have died and returned to the earth here, vegetables and grains farmed here are believed to be indirectly, or, (ugh), directly from their ancestors. Rice here is expensive too. There really is no rice from other countries readily available. And animals fed Korean-grown feed are believed to be better for Koreans. I'm not sure whether it's the spirit of the ancestors or their fertilizing effect that is supposed to be infusing the food with goodness. I don't think I want to know.
Korean rice farmers have long been fighting the introduction of foreign rice into the Korean market. It would absolutely have a major impact on the Korean economy. Koreans religiously eat rice with every meal. I once taught at an English camp where we had Korean food with a generous scoop of rice every day. The foreign teachers requested one meal that wasn't Korean. So we all got spaghetti. With a generous scoop of rice. It's almost like a tax here. And since taxes are so low, I don't mind it at all.
I think there may be more of an economic issue behind sintoburi than a health issue. If so it's an interesting commentary to me on the opinion makers of Korea, and more specifically their perception of the intellectual capacity of their people, that they would rather perpetuate mystecism like this and put "sintoburi" stickers on food and have "sintoburi" restaurants than tell Koreans to buy Korean.
I also think the mad cow protests may be spurred on for economic reasons more than any perceived health concerns.
2. Number of Creutzfeldt-Jakob-related deaths in the United States: 1.
The patient died in 2004 and was believed to have contracted the disease in the U.K. where it is a bigger problem. As of June, 2007 the number of deaths caused by, or possibly caused by the virus was 161.
3. Because Mad Cow Disease is something new there is very little difinitive evidence on it.
I'm not going to start playing the scientist here. All I know is that every report and study I've read, (and I try to screen out the bogus and biased, (none written by Koreans or beef companies etc.)), contains lots of ambiguity. They say things like "there seems to be a correlation between this and that", "It seems possible that...", even, "There is no scientific evidence, but...". And anything you hear from me should be disregarded because I have a strong bias too: I want my Kraft parmesan cheese!
That said, it looks to me like cases in which Mad Cow Disease leads to Creutzfeldt-Jakob and death are INCREDIBLY rare. Regular MCD dies when you heat it. Like when you cook your steak or pasteurize your milk or cheese. It's only the variants of MCD that "seem to be" resistant to heat and they are even rarer.
As far as meat is concerned all I want is a steak or a burger made from meat that meets or exceeds internationally recognized standards. I'd be willing to bet that Koreans have a higher chance of dying from eating Korean beef than American. Since Korean beef is kept in Korea, those standards don't need to be met. They have some strange standards in the beef industry here that are different from anywhere I've heard. In fact Koreans probably have a higher chance of dying from fan death than American beef. And the chance of death by parmesan cheese is Zero, as near as makes no difference. And if Korean concerns were based on health, not money or anti-Americanism that Italian cheese should be viewed as more dangerous than the Kraft parmesan. I read a report written in English but on a Korean site that was about some diseased animals in Parma, Italy. I can't find that report on any non-Korean sites. Maybe this could be the cause of my cheeseless spaghetti woes. Because Parma-parmesan cheese-take it off the shelves! They still have other Kraft cheeses on the shelves in Korea.
I have to say that I am not positive the lack of Kraft parmesan cheese has been caused by the mad cow hysteria, it's just a personal hunch. Maybe I should light a candle for Kraft parmesan or have a one-man protest or write a letter. If anyone with my current address reads this, send cheese soon. I'm dying here!
5 comments:
The number of CJD deaths in the US: unknown. Note that CJD, vCJD, sCJD, Kuru, etc. are all prion diseases. There have been 1595 total confirmed cases of all prion diseases in the US of bodies referred to the US National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, of which 2 have been confirmed as vCJD. This number has nothing to do with possible cases not referred to the Center, which by definition are unknown. Source: National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center (http://www.cjdsurveillance.com/pdf/case-table.pdf)
You refer to a “virus.” CJD is not caused by a virus, but rather by a mis-folded protein called a prion. Since it is not alive, it cannot be killed, and destroying it is actually quite a challenge. The infectious prion that causes Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies most certainly is not destroyed by ordinary heating, as in cooking or pasteurizing.
According to the World Health Organization, the following standard decontaminants are completely ineffective against prions:
alcohol
ammonia
ß-propiolactone
formalin
hydrochloric acid
hydrogen peroxide
peracetic acid
phenolics
sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) (5%)
ethylene oxide
formaldehyde
boiling
dry heat (<300°C)
ionising, UV or microwave radiation
The following common decontaminants are listed as only partially effective:
chlorine dioxide
glutaraldehyde
guanidinium thiocyanate (4 M)
iodophores
sodium dichloro-isocyanurate
sodium metaperiodate
urea (6 M)
autoclaving at 121°C for 15 minutes
boiling in 3% sodium dodecyl
sulfate (SDS)
Source: WHO Infection Control Guidelines For Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/bse/whocdscsraph2003.pdf, section 6)
Some Koreans may very well be exploiting the beef situation for political purposes, but that does not mean that the threat of TSEs is not real. The father of a friend of mine in Washington state was presumptively diagnosed with CJD last month. He has only a few months to live.
Thanks for doing the science for me brad. Sorry to hear about your friend.
I also read that the people who show symptoms of the disease are people who got it a long time ago. Now that more is known about the disease I'm pretty confident that international standards keep meat safe from it. I also read that now meat can be pressure treated to unfold the prions. So almost all the people who are going to die from CJD already have it. I even read some studies that said there was no corelation between eating of cooked beef and the contraction of CJD. The same studies DID find some corelation between exposure to fertilizer made from animal bones and getting CJD though. So maybe there will be a case or two cased by something like that.
I don't think we have any reason to be scared of eating meat. Groups with lots of reasons for wanting people to stop eating beef, (like vegetarians, vegetable farmers, companies that make other meat, Indians, cow lovers etc.), may be exaggerating facts now and then. I'm still going to be a LOT more afraid of my next car ride in Korea than my next steak whether it's from America or not.
Maybe you're right about cooking and pasteurizing not killing the mad cow disease but I DID read that and it must have been somewhere convincing.
I'm curious as to where you've read such things as pressure treatment making contaminated meat safe. That is factually untrue.
Prion diseases typically have long incubation periods-- in same cases decades. That does not mean that "almost all people who are going to die from CJD already have it." What "studies" are you referring to?
The risk of an automobile accident may very well be greater than the risk of contracting CJD, of whatever form. But as it stands now, we do not know what the risk of CJD is or may be. Dismissing an unknown reveals an agenda.
I had steak for dinner last night. But, just as "groups with lots of reasons for wanting people to stop eating beef, (like vegetarians, vegetable farmers, companies that make other meat, Indians, cow lovers etc.), may be exaggerating facts now and then," so too do groups with financial interests in minimizing public awareness of CJD do their very best to mislead the public.
This is cool! 2 comments!
Thanks, brad. You have given me a really good example of why I said I didn't want to play scientist. The reason is because a lot of what I read on mad cow disease and whatnot was from the internet. People don't need to be 100% sure of what they put on the internet. Great example: my blog.
Folks with hidden agendas, bad research, emotional involvement, or whatever can fill the internet with misinformation. One of the things we have to do is figure out which things to believe and sometimes that ain't easy.
Again you may be right about pressure not being able to make contaminated meat safe. I don't know. But that was not what I had said. If you read my comment carefully I said that I had read that meat can be pressure treated to unfold the prions.
A great example of how things can be twisted around. Thanks again.
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