Keeping Mad Cow Out of Your Supplements

Most of the alarm over mad cow disease has focused on ensuring the safety of beef. What’s less well known is that a legal loophole has allowed certain supplements and cosmetics to include risky cattle parts—brains, eyes, and spinal cords among them—potentially creating other routes for spreading the brain-destroying disease.

Thankfully, this prospect became less likely last summer, when the FDA banned supplement and cosmetic makers from including such ingredients from cows over 30 months of age. The main target: products containing brain or glandular extracts.

Because the FDA won’t be pulling products off the shelves, though, it’s a still a good idea to check labels to make sure you’re not taking in any of the risky substances, says Michael Hansen of Consumers Union.

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