"One Cow, Hundreds of Uses"

This story, from Newhouse News, ran in some Sunday papers this week. Go read it (though, like most recent stories about cows, it's not pleasant reading). Then ask yourself why the conventional wisdom about mad cow is "Hey, just don't eat T-bone steaks and you'll be 100% safe":

Consider:

...The cow's nasal septum is processed into chondroitin sulfate, an alternative medical treatment for arthritis....

The root gland of the tongue yields pregastric lipase, which is used in cheese production as a curdling agent....

Heparin, an anticoagulant used to thin blood, comes from a cow's lungs and intestines.

Epinephrine from the adrenal gland can treat hay fever, asthma or other allergies, or stimulate the heart in the event of cardiac arrest.

Catalase, a liver enzyme, goes into contact lens care products....

Is this all risk-free if there's some BSE out there? I don't know. Do you?