Paris - French butchers determined to convince the public that they do not sell "mad cow" beef held a giant spit roast in Paris's Jardin du Luxembourg yesterday
The butchers held their "sane cow" barbecue to counter consumer fears after news that French supermarkets had sold beef from a herd to which Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) had been traced.
A small army of white-aproned apprentices ferried steaming platters of meat over the heads of the crowd in the Jardin du Luxembourg as three giant carcasses rotated slowly over their charcoal grills. Two hundred Parisan butchers working in shifts couldn't fill their trays fast enough with steaming, lightly salted beef.