In Meat Wagon, we round up the latest outrages from the meat industry.
Back in January, a high USDA official made a pair of statements that say a lot about how we regulate industrial food production here in the United States.
On the one hand, he admitted to a journalist that feeding cows high levels of distillers grains -- a the mush leftover from corn ethanol production -- had probably contributed to a spike in cases of beef tainted with the deadly E. coli 0157 bacteria.
On the other hand, the official insisted that his agency had no intention of regulating distillers grains use -- even if a definitive distillers grains/E. coli 0157 link is established. He went so far as to declare that "I'm not about to tell the cattlemen what they are going to feed their cows."
In this regulatory regime, first you perform vast uncontrolled experiments involving the public -- e.g., add huge amounts of ethanol waste to cow rations nationwide. And then, even if things go badly, you ... do nothing.
Evidently, things work differently up in Canada, where the government doesn't allow the use of ethanol waste as animal feed.
Get this, from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency website:
The CFIA has conducted inspections in ethanol-producing plants to obtain an overview of the manufacturing process and the ingredients used. From these inspections, and communications with the industry, it has been determined that some of the ingredients used in the ethanol manufacturing process have not been assessed for safety and require approval. This has led to the determination that DG [distillers grains] produced by the ethanol industry differ from DG from distilleries producing alcohol for human consumption.
As a result of this finding, the CFIA currently prohibits the feeding of ethanol-derived distillers grains to livestock (it allows those from liquor production).
The CFIA Web site lays out startling info on the stuff that ends up in distillers grains. Reading through it, you remember what U.S. ethanol boosters want you to forget: that distillers grains are leftovers from a chemical-intensive industrial process. Here are some highlights:
- "Antimicrobial drugs" are "currently used in the fuel ethanol fermentation process in Canada." Weird. I suppose they're used to control the fermentation process. Of the drugs, virginiamycin, streptomycin, ampicillin, and penicillin show up in distillers grains at levels too low to cause trouble, the agency says. But two others, monensin sodium and tylosin tartrate, were "assessed, and not found to be acceptable without further information or restrictions."
- Evidently, to get the fermentation process rolling, ethanol producers in Canada -- and, presumably, down here as well -- are using microorganisms and enzymes with "novel traits ... e.g., ethanol-tolerant yeasts, heat- or pH-stable enzymes." Hmm.
- Then there are the processing aids, "including anti-foam and boiler chemicals to generate steam," that are used to make ethanol, and which inevitably end up in the distillers grains. The agency has a list of processing aids that can end up in feed without causing harm, but ethanol makers use several that don't make the cut, including chlorine dioxide, EDTA, sodium borohydride, and sodium metabisulfite.
- Next come mycotoxins -- toxic forms of fungus that can thrive in corn stocks and concentrate in distillers grains. "Mycotoxins in DG can impair growth and reproductive efficiency in livestock that consume them," the agency writes.
- Finally -- whew! -- the agency has found "elevated levels of sulphur and sodium" in distillers grains, which could "cause adverse health effects in livestock if the amounts fed are not managed properly." (Excess sulphur causes neurological damage in cows.)
The agency is working on a process by which distillers grains can be used as feed -- but only after they setting up explicit guidelines for each of the above considerations. To sell distillers grains as feed, producers have to show that the final product meet requirements based on the above considerations.
South of the border, the regulatory framework is much leaner -- and distillers grains have moved rapidly into the feed supply.
E. Coli 0157 and the L-word
It ranks among the dirtiest words in the corporate lexicon: liability. It means being forced to deal with the messes you've created, and that can crimp the bottom line.
At the offices of Stoel Rives LLP -- a corporate law firm that counts agribusiness firms among its clients -- they're apparently getting sweaty-palmed at the prospect of liability around E. coli 0157 and the link to distillers grains. One of Stoel's clients is Cargill, the privately owned, well-diversified agribiz giant that's intimately tied into distillers grains story. Cargill is a) a leading maker of ethanol; b) a leading producer of livestock feed; and c) a leading beef-packer and cattle feeder.
Check this out, from Stoel's website:
A recent Kansas State animal science study shows increased growth of Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 in feeder cattle fed with distillers grains, which are a co-product of ethanol production. The study may have significant effects on the potential liability of biofuel producers selling the co-product distillers grains in off-take agreements, of cattle growers using distillers grains as feed and of beef processors.
Ouch. And to think Cargill fits all three descriptions: biofuel producer, cattle grower, and beef processor. The firm goes on to give a lucid explanation of why distillers grains might cause the deadly bacteria:
Low pH may be to blame. During ethanol production, corn goes through a fermentation process that converts starch to dextrose. Cattle fed diets containing low levels of starch experience a decreased intestinal pH. Low pH may affect the survivability and growth of E. coli O157:H7, as most bacteria are killed by acids produced in the stomachs of bovines.
So what should these players do, stop using distillers grains as livestock feed? No.
Distillers grains are an effective form of cattle feed, and their popularity and availability are inseparably linked with the increased demand for ethanol as a biofuel. However, E. coli illness among humans is on the rise, as is related litigation. In addition to examining processes to reduce risk, we advise clients to carefully review supply contracts and insurance policies. Look for opportunities to shift risk.
Brilliant. Don't stop the risky behavior -- try to shift blame for it on someone else. Sounds like a job for a hotshot corporate law firm.
Cargill beef factory goes ka-boom
On Easter Sunday, a Cargill beef-packing plant in Booneville, Ark. erupted in flames -- evidently the result of a welding project gone wrong, Associated Press reports. (A follow-up AP story reports the plant had been churning out some 2 million pounds of frozen burgers and steaks per week.) Nobody died, but the plant was destroyed.
Cargill is both the nation's 3rd-largest beef-packer and 3rd-largest cattle feeder.
Booneville, a tiny town, appears to have lost its fragile economy to the conflagration. Associated Press:
The Cargill meat packing plant was an economic lifeline to this small west Arkansas town, a place where almost everyone worked its lines or knew someone who did.
The meat-packing industry is currently in a mode of scaling back: ramping down kill capacity and herd size in an attempt to boost retail prices. According to the AP report, local citizens seemed skeptical that the plant would reopen.
"They'll be applying for unemployment and food stamps" if the plant closes, a local pastor told AP. "It's really going to hurt and this town is already hurting."
The meat industry's business model of settling in economically depressed areas and then pitting the people there against undocumented workers from Mexico and points south deserves to be investigated at length.
For now, another detail caught my eye: the 88,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia that AP reports had been stored at the plant. Anhydrous ammonia is nasty stuff -- it's essentially the ammonia you used to keep under your kitchen sink, but minus the water. Derived from natural gas, it's also what industrial-scale farmers use to replenish nitrogen in fields.
Most of the plant's anhydrous ammonia disappeared in the fire; no one's sure if it ignited or merely leaked out. Officials were still evacuating areas near the plant Monday.
But what's anhydrous ammonia doing in a meat-packing plant?
I called Cargill to find out; a company man called me back to explain that the anhydrous ammonia was used in the plant's refrigeration system, playing the same role that freon plays in car air conditioners. He assured me that anhydrous ammonia is widely used for industrial-scale refrigeration. He added, a little cheekily I thought, that "your food co-op may well use it in its refrigerators."
That may well be true. But still, I marveled that Cargill's beef cows eat corn (and corn-derived products like distillers grains) fertilized by anhydrous ammonia -- and then later their flesh is cooled with machines using the same toxic substance. And I got a little creeped out.
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Comments
View as Flat
Biodiversivist Posted 8:54 am
26 Mar 2008
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
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GreenEngineer Posted 11:08 am
26 Mar 2008
Last time I checked, pH below 7 was acidic, so this statement doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
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stberhard Posted 12:45 am
27 Mar 2008
Ethanol producers use antibiotics to control the growth of wild strains in the yeast... that grain is not to be allowed in the food supply due to antibiotic content, just like milk from cows that have recently been given antibiotics is not allowed to be in the food supply. All milk is tested for antibiotic content prior to being pumped from the farm tanker into the silo at the processing plant.
Chlorine dioxide is an acceptable treatment; the molecule is approved organic, is effective at low usage levels, controls the wild strains with little damage to the fermenting yeast and breaks down into two salts.
Much of the meat industry and the USDA still do not have the consumer's best interests in mind when they come to work every day. Regulations are antiquated, sporadically enforced, with minimal oversight. It's a tough industry driven by an overwhelming demand for low cost product...
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Tom Philpott Posted 1:29 am
27 Mar 2008
In the post, I quote the law firm thusly:
Low pH may be to blame. During ethanol production, corn goes through a fermentation process that converts starch to dextrose. Cattle fed diets containing low levels of starch experience a decreased intestinal pH. Low pH may affect the survivability and growth of E. coli O157:H7, as most bacteria are killed by acids produced in the stomachs of bovines.
Here's how I understand the problem. Humans tend to have acid intestinal environs, while (grass-eating) cows tend toward basic. Thus bacteria that thrive in cow's guts get killed by our higher-acide systems. When cows eat corn and corn byproducts, their guts acidify (ie, the Ph lowers). The bacteria that evolve to survive this new environment are hardier than the old ones; and at least one, E. coli O157:H7, survives our systems and causes trouble. And that understanding seems consistent with the paragraph above. No?
Victual Reality
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stberhard Posted 12:15 am
31 Mar 2008
E. Coli isn't really any different in a cow's stomach than in a human stomach. And they seem to do just fine in either environment. Bacteria are highly developed and adaptive, some strains are hardier than others. That's why selective biocides like chlorine dioxide and antibiotics are used successfully, they kill the organisms that are not as hardy and (hopefully) leave the hardier, beneficial ones behind.
I've a fair amount of experience with chlorine dioxide; I say feed the cows water treated with ClO2. At appropriate levels it would control the E. Coli while leaving the digestive (hardier) bacteria alone.
From the University of Florida:
STARTING THE DIGESTIVE PROCESS
Chewing is the first step in processing the feed. This is no small task as the cow makes 40,000 to 60,000 jaw movements per day as it chews and rechews regurgitated feed. Then it passes down a 2 1/2 to 3 foot tube called the esophagus into a large fermentation vat of 40 to 50 gallon capacity. Here digestion of feed goes on by 500,000 billion bacteria and 50 billion protozoa living and multiplying there. These small organisms have several unique characteristics which allow the cow to thrive in situations which would be impossible for other animals to live. They digest fiber found in hay, silage, and pasture for energy, make protein from nitrogen, and synthesize B vitamins for their host, the cow.
FORESTOMACH (RETICULORMEN)
This fermentation vat is composed of two areas called the reticulum and the rumen. The reticulum has a distinctive "honeycomb" appearance. It aids to help bring boluses of feed back up to the mouth for rechewing. It also serves as a receptacle for heavy foreign objects that she eats. A condition known as "Hardware Disease" may occur if a metal object such as wire or a nail is swallowed and punctures the reticulum wall. This condition may prove lethal for two reasons. First, the bacteria and protozoa can contaminate the body cavity resulting in peritonitis and second, the heart and diaphragm may be punctured by the object causing failure of these tissues.
The rumen is, by far, the largest compartment. Its purpose is to store large quantities of feed, keep the feed mixing by strong contractions, and to provide a suitable environment for the bacteria and protozoa to live. This environment is kept agreeable to the microorganisms by maintaining a relatively constant temperature and pH and by removing many of their waste products. Most of the waste products are volatile fatty acids. These volatile fatty acids are the primary sources of energy for the cow. They are absorbed by thousands of "finger-like" projections lining the bottom and sides of the rumen wall. These can be 1/2 inch long and they increase the surface area of the rumen so as to increase her ability to absorb volatile fatty acids.
OMASUM
Once the feed has been reduced in size by chewing and digestion by the bacteria and protozoa, it can pass into a third compartment called the omasum. This area has been nicknamed the "many-plies" due to its unique structure. It has the appearance of an open book with three sides bound. The tissues within are likened to the pages of a book and are called leaves. Up to 100 leaves can be found in the omasum. These leaves have small papillae on them which absorb a large portion of the volatile fatty acids that were not absorbed through the rumen wall. Water and electrolytes such as potassium and sodium are likely absorbed here as well thus drying out the feedstuffs before they enter the next compartment.
ABOMASUM
This fourth and last compartment which make up the cow's stomach is the abomasum or "true" stomach as it is called because it functions in a very similar way to the stomach of a man or pig. As in the omasum, the abomasum contains many folds to increase its surface area. These leaves enable the abomasum to be in contact with the large amounts of feed passing through it daily. The walls of the abomasum secrete enzymes and hydrochloric acid. The pH of the digesta coming into the abomasum is around 6.0 but is quickly lowered to about 2.5 by the acid. This creates a proper environment for the enzymes to function. The chief digestive function of the abomasum is the partial breakdown of proteins. The enzyme pepsin is responsible for this. Proteins from the feed and the microorganisms coming from the rumen are broken down to smaller units called peptides before leaving.
SMALL INTESTINE
The next stop in the digestive process is the small intestine, a 130 foot-long, 2 inch-wide tube. As the feed enters the small intestine, it mixes with secretions from the pancreas and liver which elevate the pH of the digesta from 2.5 to between 7 and 8. This higher pH is necessary for enzymes in the small intestine to work. In order for feedstuffs to become available to the cow, they must be broken down into smaller molecules. These enzymes do just that by reducing any remaining proteins to amino acids, starch to glucose, and complex fats into fatty acids. Much of that occurs in the small intestine using enzymes and hormones from the pancreas, liver, and small intestine. Absorption of these nutrients also occur in the lower half of the small intestine. The intestinal wall contains numerous "finger-like" projections called villi that increase the surface area of the intestine to aid in the absorption process. Muscular contractions aid in mixing the digesta and moving it down to the next section.
LARGE INTESTINE
The cecum, colon, and rectum make up the rest of the digestive tract. They are collectively referred to as the large intestine. Its primary purpose is to absorb water from the digesta thus making it more solid. Bacteria living in the intestine work at digesting any feedstuffs which escaped digestion earlier. Usually this contributes less than 15% of the total digestion. Between these bacteria and those which passed out of the rumen, up to 50% of the dry weight of the feces can be of microbial origin.
CALF DIGESTIVE TRACT DEVELOPMENT
The digestive tracts of calves are more like humans than cows. They have no functioning rumen with bacteria and protozoa working for her. In a young calf (1 month or less), the abomasum is the largest compartment of the stomach. It makes up approximately 50 to 70% of the total stomach area. When the calf suckles from the dam or a bottle, the milk bypasses the reticulorumen by going through the esophageal groove. During the suckling process, impulses from the brain send messages to the esophageal groove, causing the sides of the groove to curve upward forming a tube. This allows a direct flow of milk into the abomasum. At this point, the enzyme rennin is secreted from the walls of the abomasum, causing the milk to coagulate or curdle. This slows the passage of milk through the abomasum to allow ample time for the milk to be digested. As the calf gets older and starts to consume grain and hay, the rumen begins to develop. This growth is due to the volatile fatty acids produced by the digestive action of microorganisms in the rumen. This also stimulates the growth of the papillae which are developing. By the end of the fourth week, the calf should be able to utilize grain and quality hay to a large extent. At eight weeks of age, the abomasum comprises only 30% of the total capacity of the stomach, and only 9% when the stomach reaches full mature size.
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