§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what experiments have been carried out on gelatine purified from cattle sources to indicate whether it might be contaminated with the infectious agent responsible for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [31066]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 4 June 1996]: Work has been published which has examined the effects of various of the several steps involved in making gelatine. This research indicates that each stage is likely to be able to reduce any infectivity. It is important to note, however, that the raw materials for gelatine production—from animals fit for human consumption and not including specified bovine materials—should not include potentially infectious material since infectivity has never been detected experimentally in any bovine tissue not covered by the current specified bovine material ban.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps have been taken to act on the outcome of research concerning the treatment processes of(a) heating and (b) caustic soda used in gelatine purification in respect of the inactivation of BSE infectivity, funded by his Department, carried out at the neuropathogenisis unit, Edinburgh and published in the 1994 archives of virology, Vol. 139; and if he will make a statement. [33136]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 19 June 1996]: This experiment examined the reduction in infectivity of the BSE agent when exposed to caustic soda only and was therefore representative of one of the processes to which bone material is subjected in order to produce gelatine. A number of other steps are involved, including acid treatment, sterilisation and filtration, each of which contributed to the level of inactivation provided by the entire gelatine making process. The raw materials used to make gelatine do not include any tissues which have ever been found to harbour BSE infectivity. Information about all the processing steps was available to the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee when it prepared its advice to Ministers on the safety of gelatine.