more good news folks!

seems like you'r more likely to be killed by your hamburger patty than terrorist bombs. British Columbia (the one in Canada!) recalled ground beef that were contaminated by E. coli bacteria. for more insights (mostly shocking) about food safety (or rather lack thereof) and fast food industry check out "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser.

in other reports, a second case of Mad Cow disease was detected in the US. but it's the first case of BSE in a US-born calf. why, you might ask? because the first case two years ago was blamed on Canada since the cow was imported from Canada. duh?

I like CSPI's scarcasm-laden statement at USDA's "faith-based mad cow policy" since the US did not have a mandatory animal tracking system (Canada and Japan does).

you might be surprised that there is no mandatory testing for all beef even after TWO cases of BSE detected. "Japan tests all beef for BSE. Europe tests one in four cows. The United States now tests one in 90. Japan, a major importer of U.S. beef, refuses to accept anything less than mandatory testing.

The USDA acceded to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association in creating the one-in-90 testing, which didn't include the Western Blot test. The association argued that universal testing would be too expensive. Yet the loss of the export business would seem to be even more costly in the long run."

update: some more "depressing" news. 17 Chinese farm workers from Sichuan province had died from a mysterious bacteria infection. These workers had slaughtered or handled dead pigs or sheeps. so far, it did not seem to be Avian flu, Chinese medical authorities thinks that it might be some form of streptococcus infection.