§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for what reasons the Government(a) decided to require that no beef with the bone in from cattle over six months old should be sold to consumers and (b) not to make public the research findings on the subject, together with SEAC's assessment of the risk. [101735]
§ Mr. Nick Brown[holding answer 7 December 1999]: The ban on sales of bone-in beef from cattle over six months of age was introduced after the Government was advised by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) that BSE infectivity had been discovered in the dorsal root ganglia, and possibly bone marrow, of cattle infected experimentally with BSE. The Government's decision to introduce the controls was taken after consideration of SEAC's advice and in the 568W light of advice from the then CMO, Sir Kenneth Calman, that he would be very concerned if any tissues that had been shown to transmit BSE were knowingly allowed to remain in the human food chain.
SEAC's advice to Ministers, including its assessment of the risk, was published on 3 December 1997 by means of a Ministry of Agriculture News Release. Sir Kenneth Caiman's advice was published on 5 December 1997 by means of a Department of Health News Release. Copies of both were placed in the Library of the House. Details of the research findings were published in a peer review journal "The Veterinary Record": GAH Wells et al, January 1998 (vol.142, pp.103-106), and March 1999 (vol.144, pp.292–294).
§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what new scientific evidence he received between 21 September and the date on which he announced the lifting of the ban on beef on the bone. [101737]
§ Mr. Nick BrownOn 30 November, I received joint advice from the 4 CMOs in the UK, based on the latest epidemiological estimates from the Oxford Group.
A copy of this advice was placed in the Library of the House at the time.