Dishing the Dirt

The Secret History of Meat

CONCLUSION

This report has confined its assessment of the human implications of meat consumption to the health problems arising from infection alone. It has not considered the well-documented association between a meat-based diet and illnesses such as heart disease, strokes, hypertension, diabetes and some forms of cancer. Nor has it addressed the new theory that meat is implicated in Alzheimer’s disease. Even without the reinforcement provided by that information, however, this report has still documented and illustrated the simple fact that meat is a dangerous substance.

Humans have eaten dirty and diseased meat since we first scavenged for carrion and clubbed down the weakest member of the herd, hundreds of thousands of years ago. While we imagine our ancestors feasting on mighty animals, nobly killed after a brave chase, the reality is that humans - like all predators - have always taken the sick, the weak, and the vulnerable. But although humans are predators, we are not carnivores and the consumption of meat comes at a price for us. When the flesh of dead animals was just an occasional supplement to our essentially vegan diet, we could afford to pay that price - but that is no longer the case. Modern farming techniques have brought meat to our tables every day and have, at the same time, magnified its risks immeasurably. We still consume the weak and sick animals: the difference is, we consume them in huge and unnatural quantities, and it is us who made them sick in the first place.

Today, our diet is based upon the systematic exploitation of animals in their billions. It is based on principles which by their very nature make animals vulnerable and diseased. The pursuit of productivity and profit has distorted their bodies and made them dependent upon drugs and human intervention to survive the brief period we permit them to live. The drive to minimise cost has led to husbandry techniques which place them at even greater risk of disease. And all this makes sense because for an animal to become meat, all that is required is that it is worth more when it is dead than it cost to keep it alive.

It is for this reason that 100,000 chickens die on farms every day and millions of animals were shot and burned on pyres during the foot-and-mouth epidemic. It is for this reason that the overwhelming majority of the animals we consume are lame at slaughter. It is for this reason that we face the probability that BSE is still infecting human beings across the world with a fatal illness and for this reason that we risk the possibility of a single mutation in avian flu killing tens and perhaps hundreds of millions of people.

We cannot rely on the businesses which rear farmed animals to protect us from the risks of dirty meat: it is they who have largely created the problem. Nor can we rely on those who slaughter, process, butcher, prepare and sell our food to us to protect us, because they profit from our ignorance. Nor, last of all, can we rely on governments to protect us, as the evidence shows. Instead, the solution to this problem is in our hands.

Meat is the unhealthy product of an unhealthy system. Intuitively, we all know that. When we heard during the BSE crisis about cattle being fed the brains of other cattle, we knew it was wrong – even though the farmers and the retailers and the government tried to tell us it wasn’t. When we are forced to think about the factory farm, the abattoir and the processing plant, we feel revulsion. When we consider animals suffering, as they do in their millions every day so that we may eat them, we feel compassion and outrage. Indeed, often when we simply see or smell a carcase in a butcher’s window, we feel repulsion. The meat we eat is overwhelmingly likely to have come from a diseased, stressed and suffering animal and the truth is, we only continue to buy and eat it because we keep the knowledge of where it came from out of sight and out of mind. Meat has a dirty secret: it isn’t wholesome, it isn’t natural and in the final analysis, it isn’t safe. When humans started eating dirty meat, we had the luxury of ignorance: in the twenty-first century we can’t afford that luxury anymore.

Further Reading

Viva! Pig in Hell: A Viva! Report on the Pig Industry in the UKhttp://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/pigs/pigreport01.htm

Viva! Sentenced to Death: A Viva! Report on the Slaughter of Farmed Animals in the UK

http://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/slaughter/sentencedtodeathreport.htm

Viva! Ducks out of Water: A Viva! Report on the UK Duck Industryhttp://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/ducks/report01.html

Viva! Stop Bugging Me: Meat and Food-borne Illness http://www.viva.org.uk/guides/stopbuggingme.htm

Vegetarian and Vegan Foundation (2003) Fishing for facts http://www.vegetarian.org.uk/fish/reporttext.htm

References

1. Goldman E (ed) (2001) Stop Bugging Me Viva!

2.Food Standards Agency, press release Food Standards Agency welcomes Consumer Association campaign to cut food poisoning 6/9/00

3. NHS in Scotland  http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/isdonline/Scottish_Health_Statistics/shs97/SECTIONS/C3.PDF

4.Eisnitz G (1997) Slaughterhouse Prometheus, New York

5. Tauxe RV (2002) Emerging foodborne pathogens International Journal of Food Microbiology 78 31-41

6. Holchem Press Release 17/3/02 http://www.prweb.com/releases/2002/3/prweb35285.php

7. Observer Food Monthly 8/8/4

8. Lang, T. (1995)Towards a Sustainable Food Policy in Tansey, G and D'Silva, J (eds.) The Meat Business: Devouring a Hungry Planet London, Earthscan.

9. Food Standards Agency press release Christmas cooks feel the pressure 16/12/03

10. Prof Hugh Pennington, quoted by BBC 15/12/3 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3318761.stm

11. Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) website http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/bse/faq.html

12. The Report of the Chief Veterinary Officer 2003, Defra

13. BSE Inquiry Report (2000) Crown Copyright

14. Meat and Livestock Commission Annual Report 1997 http://www.official-documents.co.uk/cgi-bin/htm_hl?DB=off-docsl&STEMMER=en&WORDS=mlc+report+&COLOUR=Red&STYLE=s&URL=http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/caboff/pubbod97/mlc.htm#muscat_highlighter_first_match

15. New Scientist 8/4/4 Mysterious BSE-like illness found in sheep

16. Baylis et al (2002) BSE - A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing? Trends in Microbiology10 12 563-570

17. The Guardian 4/9/2 BSE risks persist in slaughterhouses

18. The Scotsman 4/6/4 Investigation launched into BSE test failures

19. The Guardian 6/7/4

20. Meat News.com (24/5/4) http://www.meatnews.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Article&artNum=7545

21. Joint FAO/WHO/OIE Technical Consultation on BSE, Public Health and Trade 2001 http://www.euro.who.int/foodsafety/Otherissues/20020417_6

22. New Scientist “American Nightmare” 7/8/4

23. News.telegraph  4/7/04  French mad cow disease cases went undetected http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/07/04/wmad04.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/07/04/ixworld.html%20

24. BBC News 26/2/4  Superbug deaths increase 15-foldhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3488946.stm

25. ABC Online http://www.abc.net.au/science/slab/antibiotics/superbugs.htm

26. European Agency for the Evaluation Antibiotic Resistance in the European Union Assiocated with Therapeutic use of Veterinary Medicines

27. Reuters Health (6/2/2) Drug resistant bacteria in pigs spreads to people

28. Teale C 2003 Antimicrobial resistance – a threat to sustainable agriculture. State Veterinary Journal13 (1) 26-29

29. Ben Bradshaw MP, in answer to Parliamentary Question 187478.

30. Veterinary Residues Committee Annual Report on Surveillance for Veterinary Residues in Food in the UK 2003,

31. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1998) A Review of Antimicrobial Resistance in the Food Chain

32. WHO press release 20/10/97 Antibiotic Use in Food-Producing Animals Must be Curtailed

33. Cannon G (1996) Superbug Virgin Publications

34. House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, 7th Report (1998)

35. Poultry World September 2004

36. Casewell M, Friis C, Marco E, McMullin P & Phillips I (2003) The European ban on growth-promoting antibiotics and emerging consequences for human and animal health

Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy52, 159-161

37. Burch GS (2003) Did banning growth promoters have the desired effect? http://www.octagon-services.co.uk/articles/GPban.htm

38. Soil Association press release 1/9/3

39. Daily Telegraph 28/5/3

40. Hovi M (2001) Animal health and welfare in organic systems State Veterinary Journal Vol 1301 http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:xoc3iRK3WREJ:www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/svj/vol1301/two.pdf+mortality+organic+farming+uk&hl=en

41.Animal Aid (2004) A Dirty Business: Monitoring adherence to biosecurity regulations at livestock markets following the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak

42. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2004) Agriculture in the United Kingdom Crown Copyright

43. Compassion in World Farming Trust (2003) The welfare of broiler chickens in the European Union

44. Farm Animal Welfare Council, letter 25/10/02 http://www.fawc.org.uk/letters/broillet.htm

45. University of Reading, Department of Agricultural and Food Economics http://www.apd.rdg.ac.uk/AgEcon/livestockdisease/poultry/mareks.htm

46. BBC News 26/3/00 Crippled chickens choose pain relief http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/691129.stm

47. Webster J (1994) Animal welfare: a cool eye towards Eden Blackwell Sciences

48. Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Welfare (2002) The Welfare of Chickens Kept for meat production

49. Young R & Craig A (2002) The truth about drugs and poultry Soil Association

50. Poultry World April 2004

51. Food Standards Agency, 2003, UK-wide survey of salmonella and campylobacter contamination of fresh and frozen chicken on retail sale

52. Newell, D. G., Fearnley, C. (2003). Sources of Campylobacter Colonization in Broiler Chickens. Applied Environmental Microbiology69: 4343-4351

53. Daily Telegraph 24/1/04

54. BBC News 16/3/4 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3515100.stm

55. The Ecologist September 04

56. BBC News 23/1/4 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3422649.stm

57. World Health Organisation http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/country/cases_table_2004_10_25/en/

58. Ya Ha (2003); Science 5/2/03, online edition

59. Indepth: Avian Flu. CBC News Online. 14 Jan 2004 http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/flu/avianflu.html

60. BBC TV News 28/9/4 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3693182.stm

61. British Egg Industry Council, presentation to Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare, 9/3/4

62. Knowles TG & Wilkins (1998) The problem of broken bones during the handling of laying hens – a review Poultry Science77 1798-1802

63. Edwina Currie submission to BSE Inquiry http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:Of91pQfgJ9AJ:www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/ws/s288.pdf+salmonella+eggs+edwina+currie&hl=en

64. Food Standards Agency FSA survey shows very low level of salmonella contamination of eggs

Friday, 19 March 2004, ref 2004/0475

65. Food Standards agency Agencies step up action on Spanish egg-linked salmonella outbreaks, 14/10/2004

66. BBC Horizon (1992) Fast Life in the Food Chain, 18/5/2

67. Eastern Daily Press 24/8/4

68. Cherry Valley Farms Ltd. (1999). Cherry Valley: SM21 Commercial Growing Manual. Cherry Valley Farms Ltd, Market Rasen, UK

69. Council of Europe (1999) Recommendation Concerning Domestic Ducks

70. Veterinary Times  4/10/04

71. http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:7oMfpGZhNqkJ:www.npa-uk.net/js_portal/library/S%2520Hall%2520280904.ppt+pre-weaning+mortality+pigs+uk&hl=en

72. Baynes P (1999) The Continental approach to weaning Pig Farming February 1999

73. Sheppy (1998) Enzymes Pig Farming November 1998

74. Taylor DJ (1999) Pig Diseases, 7th edition Glasgow

75. Pig Farming May 1998

76. Viva! (2001) Pig in Hell: Viva! report on pig farming in the UK

77. British Pig Executive: http://www.bpex.org/technical/general/EnzooticPneumonia.asp

78. University of Reading, Department of Agricultural and Food Economics http://www.apd.rdg.ac.uk/AgEcon/livestockdisease/pigs.htm

79. Sunday Herald 27/5/1

80. The Pig Site http://www.thepigsite.com/DiseaseInfo/Default.asp?Display=46

81. Veterinary Times 14/6/4

82. Farmers Weekly 11/6/4

83. Hay M, Rue J, Sansac C, Brunel G, Prunier A (2004) Long-term detrimental effects of tooth clipping or grinding in piglets: a histological approach Animal Welfare13 1 27-33

84. British Pig Executive http://www.bpex.org/technical/general/pdf/industrystructure.pdf

85. Salmonella Affects Thousands of Pigs, Daily Telegraph, 7/12/00

86. Gregory, NG (1998) Animal Welfare and Meat Science. CABI Publishing

87. O’Brien, T (1997) Factory farming and human health Compassion in World Farming

88. Du Pont advertisement  http://www.antecint.co.uk/main/calfscvi.htm

89. Veterinary Times 17/11/03

90. Farmers Weekly 27/8/4

91. Farmers Weekly 1/10/4

92. RSPCA, pers. comm..

93. Blowey RW (1993) A veterinary book for dairy farmers Farming Press

94. Veterinary Times24/5/4

95. Farmers Weekly 4/4/3

96. Farm Animal Welfare Council (1997) Report on the welfare of dairy cattle

97. Farmers Weekly, 28/3/3

98. Veterinary Times 23/6/3

99. European Union Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Welfare (SCAHAW) (2001) The welfare of cattle kept for beef production

100. Farmers Weekly 4/10/4

101. Vegetarian and Vegan Foundation (2002) Safeguarding children’s health

102. BBC News 24/10/04

103. Advocates for Animals (2004) Silent Lambs

104. The Sheep Farmer, Jan 2003

105. Jordan RM (1990) Sheep Diseases http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/livestocksystems/DI1877.html#Pneumonia

106. University of Bristolflystrike ref http://www.bio.bris.ac.uk/research/insects/blowfly.html

107. Organic Studies Centre (2003) Technical Bulletin November 2003 http://www.organicstudiescornwall.co.uk/files/bulletin%203.PDF

108. Letter to The Times 6/1/00

109. BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2144539.stm

110. Disease Trail Led to the Squalid Farm. The Guardian, 24/02/01

111. Farmers Weekly 5/3/4

112. BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1292245.stm

113. The Guardianhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/footandmouth/story/0,7369,787476,00.html

114. Defra, http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/fmd/about/qanda.htm

115. Daily Express 3/3/01

116. The Guardianhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/footandmouth/story/0,7369,862034,00.html

117. BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2144539.stm

118. The Guardianhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/footandmouth/story/0,7369,1242554,00.html

119. MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries) (1999) Food Surveillance Information sheet No. 184 Dioxins and PCBs in UK and imported marine fish

120. Consumers Association (2002) Fish – What’s the Catch, Which Magazine October 2002.

121. Committee on Toxicity (2002) Statement concerning a FSA survey on the levels of mercury in fish

122. Food Standard Agency (2003) Mercury in imported fish and shellfish, UK farmed fish and their products, July 2003

123. Vegetarian and Vegan Foundation (2003) Fishing for facts

124. Sunday Herald 20/10/02

125. Easton MDL et al (2002) Preliminary Examination of contaminant loadings in farmed salmon, wild salmon and commercial salmon feed Chemosphere46 1053-74

126. Environmental Working Group (2003) PCBs in Farmed Salmon, July 2003

127. Compassion in World Farming Trust (2002) In too deep – The welfare of intensively farmed fish

128. Food Standards Agency http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/webpage/canthaxanthin_qanda/

129. BBC News 12/6/1

130. BBC News 22/1/02 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/medical_notes/t-z/1776368.stm

131. Meat Hygiene Service (2003) Protecting Public Health and Animal Welfare: Annual Report and Accounts 2002/2003

132. The Guardian 4/9/2

133. Food Standards Agency  http://www.food.gov.uk/bse/facts/

134. Meat Industry Insight 3/12/98 http://www.spcnetwork.com/mii/1998/981202.htm

135. Meat Trades Journal 9/9/4

136. Meat Trades Journal 7/10/04

137. Food Magazine, July/September 2000

138. Meat Products and Spreadable Fish Products Regulations 1984

139. FoodProductionDaily.Com 13/7/4 www.foodproductiondaily.com

140. The Guardian, 15/6/01

141. Meat Trades Journal 23/9/4

142. Farmers Weekly, 23/7/4

143. Griffith CJ, Hayburn G, Clayton G (2003) An evaluation of the butchers’ licensing initiative in England Food Research and Consultancy Unit, University of Wales

144. Food Standards Agency Butchers’shops licencing improves hygienehttp://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2004/sep/licensing

145. Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (2003) Postnote No 193: Food Poisoning

146. Food Standards Agency Catering workers hygiene survey 2002 31/10/2 http://www.food.gov.uk/hygcampaign/fhccateringsurvey

147. Daily Telegraph 16/3/4

148. McSpotlight http://www.mcspotlight.org/people/witnesses/food_poisoning/north_richard.html

149. News from Norway (3/9/4) http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article862938.ece

150. Food Standards Agency on prosecutions Update on local authority food law enforcement activities for 2001 as reported under the official control of foodstuffs directive 18/8/3  

151. Food Standards Agency on contaminated organic chicken Chicken contaminated with banned veterinary medicine 20/10/4

152. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (2004) Behind closed doors – the truth about chickens bred for meat

153. Soil Association (2004) Animal Welfare Report – Executive Summary

Thanks to Juliet Gellatley, Michelle Preston, Justin Kerswell, Laura Scott and Claire Bass for their invaluable help in compiling and writing this report.