How Now, Mad Cow?

Big Beef was doing fine until disease felled a heifer. Will consumer anxiety cripple the industry?

When Fiona Sigalla crossed back into the U.S. from Canada a few days after Christmas, she expected the usual questions about firearms--routine in these times of terrorist threats. But the border cop in his bulletproof SWAT uniform took one look inside her car and immediately seized the contraband held by Sigalla's 8-year-old daughter: her lunch leftovers. "He looked slightly embarrassed, but he confiscated my McDonald's trash," Sigalla says with a chuckle. "Of course, you notice that I wasn't afraid to purchase a McDonald's hamburger, even in Canada."

For the U.S., could this be the year of mad cow? The U.S. Department...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!