"The public health risk is about as close to zero as you can get," Russell Cross, director of the Institute of Food Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, said Thursday.
Worries about the safety of British beef spread beyond just steaks and chops Wednesday when the European Community ordered Britain to stop exporting all beef-derived products including ice cream, candy, cosmetics and drugs.
U.S. scientists noted, however, that very few of these products use pieces of the steer's brain and spinal cord, the only parts of the steer's body where mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encepthalopathy, has been found.
The most widely used beef product is collagen, the spongy substance derived from beef skin or bones. Collagen is often an ingredient in ice cream, custards, cheeses, candies, sausage casings and cosmetics.
Even if it were found to be a carrier, the vast majority of the collagen in U.S. products comes from domestic beef because it is so plentiful, said Bob Rust, professor emeritus in meat science at Iowa State University.
In addition, the manufacturing process for collagen and related products often involves extreme heat and chemical treatments, virtually ensuring the disease won't survive, the experts said.
When it comes to drugs, the Food and Drug Administration takes an extra safety step, said FDA spokesman Lawrence Bachorik.
The FDA, prior to approval of any drug with beef products, requires the manufacturer to certify that the beef only come from countries free of the disease, he said.
The variety of drugs derived from cattle parts is diverse, said Craig Morris of the American Meat Institute, a marketing a research organization:
-- Fetal bovine serum, bonemeal, bloodmeal
-- Adrenalin products for hay fever, asthma and other allergies, from the adrenal gland.
-- Cortizone, for arthritis, asthma, shock, also from the adrenal gland.
-- Insulin, for diabetics, from the pancreas.
-- Tissues used as patches during heart bypass surgery, from the bovine pericardial tissue, a membrane enclosing the steer heart.
-- Thromboplastin, a blood coagulant used in surgery, from the brain.
-- Growth hormones come from the cattle pituitary glands.