§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
What evidence there is that Swiss cattle infected with BSE were fed with rations which included meat and bone meal.
Lord LucasThe Swiss authorities have carried out intensive epidemiological investigations into each outbreak, and the feeding of ruminant protein has been identified as the only common factor.
§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any cases of BSE have been reported in which the owners of cattle affected have claimed not to have fed them cattle feed containing meat and bone meal and if so, how many animals come into this category.
Lord LucasThe inclusion of meat and bone meal in cattle feed was banned in Great Britain on 18th July 1988.
Owners of BSE confirmed animals are asked to provide a full feeding history of the affected animal; they are not asked specifically whether meat and bone meal has been fed. The owner of the animal may not always be in a position to provide this, as in many cases the animals are not homebred and the feeding pattern of animals during calfhood, when infection is most likely to have occurred, is not known. In addition, farmers may not be aware that certain brand name feed concentrates which he has fed to the animal will have contained meat and bone meal.
§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any meat and bonemeal which was exported to European countries in the years immediately prior to 1986 was subsequently exported to the Middle East and North Africa and incorporated into cattle feed, and, if so, whether they can explain why no reports have been received of BSE amongst indigenous cattle in those areas.
Lord LucasInformation is not available on whether meat and bone meal (MBM) exported to other EU member states in the years immediately prior to 1986 was subsequently exported by those member states to third countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Nor is information available on whether or not those third countries use MBM in cattle feed.
§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will confirm that the changes in rendering systems which took place from 1972 also occurred in Europe and the USA and that most of these systems fail to inactivate BSE and scrapie agents.
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Lord LucasGiven the number of countries and variety of procedures involved, I cannot comment in detail on changes in rendering procedures in other countries. However, the changes that occurred in the United Kingdom rendering industry were the result of market forces which it is likely were similar in nature elsewhere. The latest research has shown that the only rendering system in general use capable of deactivating the scrapie agent is heating at a temperature of 133°C at 3 bar pressure for a minimum of 20 minutes. As a result, new standards are being drawn up by the Commission which, it is intended, will be implemented in all member states by April 1997.
A major BSE epidemic has only occurred in the British Isles because the combination of critical factors that led to the emergence of the disease in this country do not exist in many other countries, if anywhere. These factors include the existence of a sheep population in which scrapie occurs and which is very much larger than the cattle population; and a feed and cattle industry which produced and used ruminant-derived meat and bone meal in calf rations. Many other countries render and recycle ruminant proteins to varying extents, but in the absence of the first two factors—and taking into account differences in animal husbandry, particularly the way calves are fed—this has not resulted in an epidemic of BSE.