HC Deb 15 July 1994 vol 246 cc790-1W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to her answer of 4 July,Official Report, column 37, whether an immunodeficiency virus has ever been communicated from cattle to humans; why no tests are done on imported milk; what tests are done on United Kingdom produced non-pasteurised milk; whether bovine immunodeficiency virus has been found in non-pasteurised milk; and what assessment she has made of whether BIV is killed by (a) pasteurisation, (b) sterilisation and (c) ultra heat treatment.

Mr. Soames

There is no evidence that an immunodeficiency virus has been communicated from cattle to humans and there is no evidence that bovine immunodeficiency-like virus affects humans. Experimental efforts to grow BIV in human cells have failed. Two United States laboratory personnel who accidentally had needle stick injuries with BIV infected cell material some five years ago have shown no signs of illness as a result. In the absence of any risk to human health from BIV, we do not consider it necessary to test milk for the virus. Raw cow's milk produced in the United Kingdom is subject to hygiene and quality checks for example for plate counts, antibiotic residues and added water. In addition, raw cow's milk sold for drinking in England and Wales is subject to strict microbiological standards, for plate count and coliforms, under the Milk (Special Designation) Regulations 1989. We are not aware that BIV has been isolated from unpasteurised milk either here or abroad. It is known that lentiviruses are susceptible to heat treatment. Studies have been commissioned at the Central Veterinary Laboratory on the inactivation of BIV in milk by pasteurisation.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to her answer of 4 July,Official Report, column 37, if she will now require testing of all milk imported from other EC countries to ensure that it complies with EC directive 92/46 on milk hygiene and that it is free of bovine immunodeficiency virus.

Mr. Soames

EC directive 92/46 allows milk to be traded within the EC if it meets requirements in the directive and bears the EC health mark. Under the EC veterinary checks regime, it is the responsibility of the exporting member state to ensure that only products meeting these requirements enter intra-Community trade. An importing member state can carry out nondiscriminatory checks at destination unless there is suspicion of an infringement of requirements in the directive, in which case spot checks, including sampling, can be carried out at any stage. However, it would be a barrier to trade and contrary to EC law to check for bovine immunodeficiency-like virus, which is not referred to in the directive.