Faddish food scares often a mix of hype, reality. You've heard the catchphrases such as mad cow disease, bird flu and E. coli. But how much do you really know about these health scares? [News Source]

Researchers aim to make disease-resistant cattle. Researchers from Texas A&M University are working to develop illness-repellent sheep, a step that could lead to the engineering of cattle resistant to mad cow disease. [News Source]

Recent mad cow discovery doesn’t suggest nationwide spread. From Washington to Texas and now in Alabama, it may seem as if mad cow disease is making a migration to Georgia. But that's not how it works, says a University of Georgia expert. [News Source]

Battle against mad cow disease being won. Cases of mad cow disease have halved each year wordlwide over the past three years, showing farmers were beating the deadly malady, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said on Thursday. [News Source]

Scientists fear increase in animal diseases jumping to humans. Animals have become the leading source of new human disease, and fighting them will take more trained professionals and resources, health officials said at a meeting in Atlanta this week. [News Source]

Plenty to chew over. If you're prepared to - or are preparing to - fork out the extra cash and go organic in your eating, it may be what you're not paying for that will do you the most good. [News Source]

Meatpacker sparks mad cow testing fight. A Kansas meatpacker has sparked an industry fight by proposing testing all the company's cattle for mad cow disease. [News Source]

Mad cow victims in UK consider legal action over lack of aid. Efforts to keep the vCJD-related compensation claims from tying up the courts may be unraveling as families consider suing over the bureaucracy and level of legal fees surrounding a UK trust fund. [News Source]

Cell engineering may stop mad cow disease. Scientists say they've successfully "knocked down" the expression of possible disease-causing genes in a cloned goat fetus, perhaps paving the way for breeding disease resistance in other animals. [News Source]

USDA, Japan set Monday talks on mad cow, beef trade. U.S. and Japanese officials will meet on Monday to discuss meat inspection rules and to press Tokyo to buy American beef again. [News Source]