MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- Officials at the Defense Commissary Agency have not overlooked America's beef industry "mad cow disease" scare that took place more than two weeks ago in the state of Washington.
On Dec. 23 a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as "mad cow disease," was reported, since then the U.S. Department of Agriculture has conducted a limited recall of 10,000 pounds of beef that may originate from the infected cow and from cows slaughtered at the same time and location.
"No beef in any of our 275 commissaries worldwide has been involved in a USDA recall," said Army Col. Mark Wolken, chief of public health, safety and security for DeCA. "The USDA has stated that the U.S. beef supply is safe and that the beef recall resulted from an abundance of caution, not fear, that the meat is infected. Local DeCA officials have matched national precautionary measures, but admit that customers have voiced few concerns about beef safety."
Dave Hayden, the Depot's commissary director, said that very few of his customers have expressed apprehension when purchasing beef products. Hayden also referred to a long-standing DeCA policy that allows customers to return any item that they have a quality concern with.
As of Wednesday, Hayden said no commissary beef had been returned.
"[Returning the beef I bought at the commissary] never entered my mind," said Kim Abbott, the Child Development Center's director, who shops at the commissary weekly. "I rely on the expertise of the people that run the commissary."
Nationally commissary customers have raised questions about the safety of beef purchased at their local commissary. Questions range from "should I return the ground beef I bought last week?" to "has my commissary received meat from the infected cow?"
The answer to both questions is "no" said Wolken, an Army veterinarian. "The brain, spinal cord, and lower intestine - where the protein or 'prion' that is believed to cause BSE is found - is not generally used in food consumed by Americans. Those parts were removed from the infected cow before any of it could enter the meat supply."
USDA investigators have determined that the recalled meat went to a few commercial markets in Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana and Guam as well as Washington state, Oregon, California and Nevada.
"No commissaries received any of those shipments," Wolken emphasized. "But I can certainly understand customers having concerns and questions. We're all affected by this - we're all concerned."
Concerns, which are certainly justified. "Mad cow" is a fatal disease that destroys the brains of the infected animal. It is caused in cattle by misshapen proteins called prions that are possibly spread from animal to animal through contaminated feed. A rare form of the disease in humans known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease has been linked to the consumption of contaminated beef products. The approximately 140 deaths linked to "mad cow" since the mid-90s have mainly been in Britain.
For the latest developments on the current situation as well as for links to the USDA and other information on recalls and food safety, commissary customers should check the food safety link at www.commissaries.com.