- WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A
traditional Polka tune poses the question, "Someone stole the kishka.
Someone stole the kishka. Who stole the kishka, from the butcher's shop?"
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- Finally, there's an answer.
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- The U.S. Department of Agriculture stole the kishka,
not to mention the "tripas" and the "pho tai sach"
-- all ethnic delicacies made from the small intestines of cattle.
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- The discovery in December of the first case of mad cow
disease in the United States prompted the USDA in January to put a stop
to human consumption of cow and bull intestines.
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- And, concerns about diseases similar to mad cow have
led some in the food industry to worry about wider bans on animal parts
used in making sausages and other ethnic favorites.
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- Cattle lungs were already banned in food for human consumption,
and there is a new ban on brains, eyes and other parts, but only for animals
over 30-months, the USDA says.
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- For the cattle and beef industries, which have long prided
themselves on being able to market just about everything except the "moo,"
the USDA decision marked one of the few times an animal part was banned
for human consumption.
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- It was taken out of fear that cattle intestines may carry
the abnormal protein thought to cause mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE), a fatal neurological illness humans can get from
eating contaminated beef.
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- "The actions we are taking ... are steps to enact
additional safeguards to protect the public health," Agriculture Secretary
Ann Veneman said.
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- The government decree means that Mexico, the second-biggest
importer of U.S. beef, no longer can buy the small intestines of American
cattle. The guts typically are chopped, then fried or barbecued, and sold
as "tripas" by Mexican street vendors.
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- The same goes for Vietnamese restaurants in the United
States that offer up hot bowls of noodle soup called "pho tai sach,"
complete with beef stuffed into intestines or stomach linings.
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- KISHKA CASINGS
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- The ubiquitous kishka, a favorite at Polish festivals,
will have to adopt a new casing for the blood, beef or barley that is the
stuffing for this delicacy, depending on the chef.
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- And 'lest anyone think they can skirt the USDA regulation
by buying imported small intestines, they should think again.
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- USDA sent letters this month to 10 beef-exporting countries
including Australia, Argentina, Canada and Brazil, warning that their shipments
would be cut off if they don't adopt the Bush administration's regulations.
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- "It has caused great consternation in the (American)
sausage industry," said Shirley Coffield, secretary of the North American
Casing Association.
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- Calling the USDA regulation "misguided," Coffield
complained that it prohibits imports of small intestines even from countries
that are internationally recognized as being free of mad cow disease.
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- The $150 million U.S. natural casing industry also fears
the mad cow crisis could prompt government regulators to look at a wider
ban on intestines, such as sheep's guts, which are widely used in frankfurters
and breakfast sausage, according to one industry official who asked not
to be identified.
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- Sheep suffer from a fatal nervous system disease called
scrapie, a transmissible illness in the same family of diseases as mad
cow.
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- The Washington state Holstein found to have BSE is having
a culinary impact that reaches beyond small intestines.
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- Japan has been looking to Australia to fill a gap in
its beef supplies since Tokyo banned American meat because of mad cow fears.
Australian cattle are largely grass-fed, unlike grain-fed U.S. cattle.
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- Jason Sawyer, assistant professor at the Department of
Animal Science at Texas A&M University in College Station, described
forage-fed beef as having "a more intense flavor and a different color"
from grain-fed beef.
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- And while American beef might be more tender when cooked
because of its "marbled" quality, grass-fed enthusiasts boast
that beef has nutrients that reduce bad cholesterol and fight cancer.
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- http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=reutersEdge&storyID=4256651
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