GOT BOWEL DISEASE?

"Researchers believe they have found the strongest association yet between a disease commonly found in livestock and Crohn's disease, a condition of the digestive tract suffered by about one in 600 of the population." They're also postulating a link to irritable bowel syndrome. (via Vegan Porn)

VACATION TIME

See y'all at Summerfest! Those of you who don't see me there won't see much over the next couple weeks. But I'll be back at the Meat Facts desk in late August.

ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER RECALL

The War on E. Coli racks up more friendly-fire casualties as two people in Colorado are hospitalized and the company that made the beef they ate, Howard Beef Processors ("which does business as Ellison Meat Co."), has recalled nearly a hundred tons of ground-up dead cow on E. Coli concerns. So... the War on E.Coli is still progressing about as well as that other war...

GRILLIN' ILL

Here's one that almost fell through the cracks - Barbecued meat is even more carcinogenic than previously believed. "A typical two-hour barbecue can release the same level of dioxins as up to 220,000 cigarettes," reports the BBC, adding "The figures were based on grilling four large steaks, four turkey cuts and eight large sausages. Gosh. Where do you suppose all that dioxin came from?

ALBATROSS!...

Beginning in October, frozen pizza makers can use toppings with as little as 2 percent cooked meat or 3 percent raw meat, instead of the 12 percent cooked or 15 percent raw currently required. The American Frozen Food Institute sought the change, arguing that a less restrictive standard means they could produce pizzas with less fat and cholesterol. Note the direction of the change - "Meat" used to be a positive, so they had to meet a standard of 'enough' meat. Now the inclusion of actual meat has become a liability to be limited, even as the packaging plays up the comfortingly familiar word. AL...batross!

RINGLING MUST ANSWER ANIMAL CRUELTY CHARGES

On the ruling of a judge, Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey, or "Big Circus," has to answer charges that "circus employees routinely beat the elephants with sharp bull hooks, keep elephants in chains for long periods of time and forcibly remove baby elephants from their mothers before they are properly weaned." And that's just by the end of the matinee. I wonder how the clowns behind the Lamest Show on Earth are gonna wiggle out of this one, yet I feel sure they will. It's Big Circus. Wheeeeeeeee!