Pig factory workers develop mysterious disease
Posted on Feb 8th 2008 8:15AM by Bethany SandersFiled Under: Diet & Weight Loss, Alternative & Green Health
You know, I could happily lived my life never knowing what happens inside a meatpacking plant. But then I had to go and read this article from the NYT and the curtain was pulled wide open. Not only is the process disturbing, what's more disturbing is what's happening at one pork processing plant in Minnesota.
A dozen employees have come down with a debilitating neurological disease that involves "heavy legs," loss of limb use, numbness, fatigue, pain, and weakness. The disease appears to cause inflammation of the spinal column, but it's not an illness doctors have seen before. The one thing all 12 employees have in common is that they all work at or near the "head table," where pig brains are harvested by using a process called "blowing brains." During the process, brain matter is pulverized into a fine mist. Workers do not currently wear face masks and can inhale or swallow airborne particles.
I'm sorry. Now I've pulled the curtain wide open for you too, haven't I?
Doctors believe that what is happening to the people affected by this syndrome is some sort of severe immune response to the pig brain matter that ends up inside their bodies. The question is, why? Some patients have recovered and returned to work, while others are still struggling to find treatment that works. Disturbing, indeed.
A dozen employees have come down with a debilitating neurological disease that involves "heavy legs," loss of limb use, numbness, fatigue, pain, and weakness. The disease appears to cause inflammation of the spinal column, but it's not an illness doctors have seen before. The one thing all 12 employees have in common is that they all work at or near the "head table," where pig brains are harvested by using a process called "blowing brains." During the process, brain matter is pulverized into a fine mist. Workers do not currently wear face masks and can inhale or swallow airborne particles.
I'm sorry. Now I've pulled the curtain wide open for you too, haven't I?
Doctors believe that what is happening to the people affected by this syndrome is some sort of severe immune response to the pig brain matter that ends up inside their bodies. The question is, why? Some patients have recovered and returned to work, while others are still struggling to find treatment that works. Disturbing, indeed.
