Word: beef
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...Across the European Union, beef consumption was down by an average of 27% last month and export markets have collapsed. In Germany, Spain and Italy, sales have plunged between 40% and 50%. France's turnover has fallen by some 30%. Only in Britain, where the epidemic started in the 1980s, causing 83 human deaths and prompting the slaughter of nearly 5 million cattle, has consumption returned to pre-bse levels...
...Though the farmers typically made the most noise, they were hardly the only ones affected by the crisis. At the Paris wholesale market in Rungis, white-smocked vendors wander gloomily among hanging sides of beef as a trickle of customers-mostly butchers and restaurateurs-poke and prod the carcasses. Especially hard hit is Francis Fauchère, whose firm Eurodis caters to supermarkets, restaurant chains and school cafeterias-many of which have eliminated beef from their menus. "What's killing us is the doubt," says Fauchère, whose sales plunged as much as 60%. "All this meat is tested...
...Supermarkets have also taken a big hit. In France, where the large chains account for some two-thirds of all beef sales, turnover was down nearly 40% at the end of January. Many local butcher shops, on the other hand, have actually seen an increase in business. Paris' Frédéric Juré, who proudly displays photos and ID certificates of the cows he carves up, is now selling more beef than ever. "'Mad cow' disease has been a great good," he says. "It has breathed life back into the small butcher shops...
...Beef eating in restaurants is generally down throughout Europe, but the situation varies greatly. While the more upscale establishments are holding their own, the cheaper chains specializing in steaks and burgers have taken a hit. McDonald's overall European sales were down 10% in the last quarter of 2000. In a study for the u.m.i.h., France's main restaurateurs' association, 25% of its members reported a drop in business and 80% saw a shift away from beef toward other dishes...
...Clearly, Europeans' flight from beef is leading them to seek alternatives. The most obvious are lamb, pork, poultry and fish, all of which have enjoyed increased sales since the latest outbreak of mad cow panic. For the truly health-conscious, however, there are potential problems with most of these alternatives. Sheep are susceptible to scrapie, a brain-destroying disease that may be the origin of bse. Mass-produced pork is bulked up with antibiotics and, illegally but not uncommonly, with hormones, while battery chickens are often similarly drugged. Though there is no indication that fish can harbor the bse prion...