In its latest entry in the Meat MythCrusher video series, the North American Meat Institute addresses bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly referred to as mad cow disease, as a major concern for beef producers around the world.

Specifically, the video rebuts the claim that this disease is a common threat to human and animal health.

In the video Jeff Savell, animal science professor at Texas A&M University, explains the significant reductions in BSE cases around the world since the early 1990s and the various steps the U.S. and other countries have taken to prevent BSE. The steps include a Food and Drug Administration rule that bans feeding cattle protein derived from ruminant animals; veterinary inspection of animals at meat packing plants and removal of specified risk materials such as the brain and spinal cord from at risk animals.

“What I feel great about is there have only been four animals here in the U.S., out of hundreds of millions of animals, that have been diagnosed with BSE,” said Savell. “I have no fear that if there were one next year that it would not be something of great risk because of all the programs we’ve put in place.”

 The Meat MythCrusher video series is produced by the North American Meat Institute in conjunction with the American Meat Science Association (AMSA). The series is now in its fifth year and the new video is the 42nd in the series. Other video topics include meat nutrition, antibiotic use in livestock, “Superbugs” in meat, hormone use in animals, and ammonia in ground beef.