§ Mr. StunellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths in the UK have been attributed to(a) consumption of nuts and nut products and (b) BSE in each of the last 10 years. [27680]
§ Mr. DarlingI have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Andrew Stunell, dated 11 February 1998:
I have been asked to reply, as Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), to your recent question asking for the numbers of deaths in the United Kingdom attributable to (a) consumption of nuts and nut products and (b) BSE in each of the last 10 years.The information requested is shown in the table below.
Deaths in the United Kingdom attributable to nuts and BSE/nvCJD1, 1993–1996 Year Nuts Nut products2 BSE 1993 4 n/a 0 1994 1 n/a 0 1995 5 n/a 3 1996 2 n/a 10 1997 n/a n/a 10 1 New variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD) was identified in March 1996; to date there have been 23 deaths. Although the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) have concluded that there is convincing evidence that the agents causing BSE and nvCJD are the same, the scientific evidence to date does not tell us anything about the route of infection. SEAC's advice is that the most likely explanation for the nvCJD cases to date is exposure to BSE before the specific bovine offals ban in 1989. 2 We are unable to identify nut products. Data for years prior to 1993 can only be retrieved at disproportionate cost.