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BEEFACTS: BYPRODUCTS

ALL PARTS OF BEEF CATTLE ARE UTILIZED TO PRODUCE IMPORTANT BY-PRODUCTS YOU USE EVERYDAY!

Beef cattle not only provide meat; they also provide both edible and inedible by-products as well as many products for the pharmaceutical industry. Almost 100% of the animal is utilized. Its been said that everything but the 'MOO' is used, and they are working on that. The following is a partial listing of by-products that demonstrates the important contributions that cattle make to the quality of our everyday lives; as well as to the nutrition of our diet.

EDIBLE BY-PRODUCTS

 

 

  • The most familiar edible by-products are variety meats - liver, heart, kidney, tripe, sweetbreads and tongue.
  • Less well-known by-products include the oleo stock, derived from beef fat, used for shortening in some varieties of commercial cookies, and oleo stearine, which is used for the making of some chewing gums
  • Gelatin from the bones and hides of both beef and pork is used for the making of marshmallows, ice cream, canned meats and gelatin products. Gelatin also acts as a stabilizer in low fat food products like yogurt.
  • Natural sausage casings come from the intestines.


Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker

The beef industry is an active part of our economy. By-products serve as source material for hundreds of other industries. In other words, without beef as a renewable resource, not only would the butcher be out of work, but so would businesses that produce pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and textiles. Yes, it even affects the baker and candlestickmaker.

INEDIBLE BY-PRODUCTS

  • Probably the best-known of these products is leather, from the hide. Handbags, gloves, shoes, jackets, belts, and even footballs and baseball gloves are made from leather.
  • Bones and hooves are used to make doggie chews or ground to bonemeal for dog biscuits, and other animal feeds.
  • High quality gelatin from beef bones is used in technical applications such as the clarification of apple juice, wine and beer; and the production of pharmaceutical gelatin capsules. Photographic film manufacturing requires gelatin to fix light sensitive chemicals to the film base.
  • Beef tallow is an important ingredient in many products that we use in everyday life. For example, it provides glycerine for lipstick, face and hand creams, toothpaste and cough medicine. A variety of cleaning agents are derived from tallow - commercial soaps, industrial cleaners, shampoos, liquid soap and detergent. Tallow is also used in the production of steel, serving to lubricate and protect newly manufactured steel from scratches. Free fatty acids derived from tallow are also used in the production of candles, fabric softeners, crayons, paper, phonograph records, explosives, and cement blocks.
  • If you drive a car, you are enjoying the benefits of beef by-products. Stearic acid, and free fatty acid made from tallow, is an important component in the tire curing process. Free fatty acids are also used in the production of asphalt.



Super Stomach

Humans have some physiological similarities to the cow, but there is one major difference. The bovine's complex, 4-compartment stomach enables it to digest and convert all types of vegetation indigestible by humans, into energy and important "building blocks" of the body. The simple human system cannot utilize vegetation efficiently, and therefore these potentially valuable resources would be wasted if we didn't get them from another source.

PHARMACEUTICALS

  • Cattle are walking storehouses for more than 100 life-saving and life-improving drugs.
  • One-third of Canada's 500,000 diagnosed diabetics take insulin. Prior to the 1980's, people with diabetes relied totally on insulin supplies extracted from beef and pork pancreases. New technology has developed a method of synthesizing insulin more closely resembling that of humans. This newer "human pattern insulin" accounts for about half the insulin market. The remaining half continue to use animal insulin.
  • Corticotripin (ACTH) is used in the treatment of allergies, anemia, respiratory diseases and lukemia. Like insulin, this drug can now be produced synthetically.
  • Other pharmaceuticals include heparin, used to prevent blood coagulation during operations; and thrombin, used to promote blood coagulation; rennet, a mild enzyme to help infants digest milk; and thyrotropin, used to treat thyroid disorders.
  • Cancer research depends on albumin, extracted from the blood plasma and aprotinin, extracted from the lungs. These products are used as growth agents in the research of cell reproduction.
  • Collagen injections are used in cosmetic surgery to smooth facial lines. Collagen is ideal for this purpose as it is a natural protein, found in the skin and connective tissue of animals and humans.
  • Some by-products have been accredited with unusual medicinal properties. In some cultures, gallstones are believed to cure jaundice and impotence.



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