Mad Turkey disease?

Your Thanksgiving turkey may severely threaten your health, cause the equivalent of mad cow disease in humans, paralyze you, or even kill you, according to a former rancher who now refuses to eat any type of meat product.

Turkeys, he says, are now being fed ground up turkeys and other animals, which may cause numerous health risks.

The widespread agricultural process of animal cannibalism was criticized by Howard Lyman on the “Oprah Winfrey Show” in April 1996, which resulted in a lawsuit against him and Winfrey. There is a law in 13 states which is intended to prevent disparaging remarks from being made about the agriculture business. Despite that law, Winfrey and Lyman won the case based on free speech.

“If someone is going to stand up for free speech in America, it might as well be me,” said Winfrey. Upon victory she said, “Free speech rocks!” Lyman has now been speaking out more strongly than ever.

In an exclusive interview with WorldNetDaily, Lyman pointed out that cows are not the only animals that get the mad cow disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy. It is thought to have originated in sheep, the remains of which were fed to cows. Other animals are now given feed made from the remains of many animals further spreading the disease to mink, ostrich, deer, elk, poultry and eventually humans.

Since the poultry and turkey industry is also mixing animal remains into feed, a very high danger exists this Thanksgiving. Livestock may appear healthy but carry the prions that spread the disease, according to Dr. Virgil Hulse, author of “Mad Cows and Milk Gate.”

Prions have been found to withstand very high temperatures and still cause the disease. Hulse says nothing has been found to eliminate them. Prions in one animal are passed to another through the feed now used in many, but not all, ranch operations as a money-saving strategy.

Turkey farmers claim to have been saved from financial disaster when Norbest and the Moroni Feed Cooperative began grinding up turkey parts to feed turkeys at a lower cost. The company is the largest turkey producer in the western U.S. and the third largest nationally.

Members of the Utah legislature were given personal tours of the Norbest processing plant, at which time company representatives expressed pride in their “recycling” program. “Nothing is wasted,” bragged the tour guide.

The cooperative has helped to make the turkey industry profitable by turning turkey remains and byproducts into turkey feed. Members of the legislature toured the slaughterhouse where turkeys are killed, cleaned, packaged for distribution, and the remains are prepared as feed for the next generation of turkeys.

The tour guide pointed out the efficiency of the process as he showed the lawmakers piles of beaks, claws, bones, feathers and other parts of turkeys ready to be ground up and combined with grains to create the turkey feed. The cost of feed has been substantially reduced, making the turkey business profitable.

The cooperative also processes turkey manure into fertilizer. Legislators were all given a large bag as a gift. Company spokesmen credited the “recycled” feed and fertilizer sales for saving the financially failing turkey industry.

Americans will eat 150 million pounds of Norbest turkeys. Both Hulse and Lyman are concerned about the potential hazards. All turkey producers, not just Norbest, present the same health risks to consumers, claim both men.

The most common problem is salmonella poisoning, caused by fecal matter eaten by and brought in contact with turkey and poultry. Despite best efforts, manure does end up in feed. Production lines in slaughterhouses go so fast that fecal mater does come in contact with meat intended for human consumption, according to Hulse.

Hulse estimates that there are 800,000 cases or more of salmonella poisoning each year, with at least 800 deaths.

Norbest acknowledges the problem, but rather than prevent the contamination they simply issue warnings to consumers to prepare and cook turkeys in a way that will kill salmonella. See safe turkey recommendations.

“Keep the turkey refrigerated or frozen. Thaw in refrigerator or microwave. Keep raw poultry separate from other foods. Wash working surfaces, including cutting boards, utensils and hands after touching raw poultry. Cook thoroughly. Refrigerate leftovers within two hours,” states the warning label mandated by law.

Although Norbest Vice President Frank Cook refused to talk to WorldNetDaily, press information issued by the company claims, “Norbest’s penchant for wholesomeness and quality goes well beyond the food labels — it extends to the processing plants where the company’s quality assurance standards are more stringent than local, state or U.S.D.A. guidelines. All Norbest plants have Norbest quality assurance experts as well as continuous inspection by U.S.D.A. inspectors. Modern process controls assure production of wholesome products that comply with or exceed regulatory requirements. Inspectors stress high quality and prevention of errors.”

“The U.S.D.A. doesn’t have any sense. It’s just the greed. Of all things, putting it back on our housewives,” said Hulse, himself a former federal dairy inspector. He said that inspectors can only go to slaughter plants and are prevented by law from going to farms and ranches to see how live animals are raised.

“That’s where it’s all coming from, “he said in frustration. Inspectors know the problems and many know the real problem is on the farms they are not permitted to visit or see.

Lyman says it’s the golden rule of politics.

“Them that got the gold are going back to Washington to make the rules.” He called on the secretary of agriculture to tell Americans not to eat turkeys, but he said that won’t happen because the money that is driving politics will force the Secretary to protect corporate profits rather than give sound advice to consumers.

“U.S.D.A. meat inspectors will not consume the product they are inspecting,” said Lyman. “They don’t have a lot of faith in the system. As long as the money is in control of the political sway, I think we are going to continue to go down the wrong path. This path is getting steeper and steeper and is about to get us to an abyss.”

Hulse claims the U.S.D.A. knows the dangers and is ignoring them for political reasons. He pointed out that there is far less salmonella in Europe because of a concerted effort to properly deal with the problem. Europeans have laws preventing the importation of many live animals and meats from the U.S. because of concerns over contamination.

“There’s no doubt that we are feeding the remains of all kinds of animals back to turkeys, including turkeys being fed to turkeys,” said Lyman. “Take a look at the study that was done in Hamilton, MT that showed animals could harbor diseases without showing the symptoms of the disease but transfer it to the next critter that ate them.”

Lyman believes the annual flu epidemic that kills thousands in the U.S. begins right after Thanksgiving. The flu, he points out, is an avian disease.

“Having turkey for Thanksgiving could turn into being the last supper,” warned Lyman.

“If you’re going to have a turkey, bring it in live and let it go home afterwards. Have a plant based diet for Thanksgiving. It will be better for you and will be better for the turkey,” he suggested. Lyman is a former cattle rancher and the author of the book “Mad Cowboy,” and is on a speaking tour warning Americans of the dangers he has found.

David M. Bresnahan ([email protected]) is a contributing editor of WorldNetDaily.com, is the author of “Cover Up: The Art and Science of Political Deception,” and offers a monthly newsletter “Talk USA Investigative Reports.”