§ Lord Lucasasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will ask the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee if, in the light of current research and the actions taken to protect human health with reference to human blood, it still considers it appropriate to allow blood, gelatin and tallow to be fed to calves. [HL1930]
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Baroness Hayman)SEAC last looked at the safety of gelatin and tallow in October 1997. The committee concluded that no further measures were necessary. Following its recom-mendations on precautionary measures in relation to human blood in October 1997, it reviewed the use of bovine blood in animal feed in March 1998 and saw no need to go beyond existing controls.
In February 2000 SEAC considered preliminary evidence suggesting infectivity could be demonstrated in the blood plasma of mice experimentally infected with a mouse adapted BSE agent. The committee noted that the pathogenesis of the disease caused by BSE in mice was different to the pathogenesis of BSE in cattle but more similar to that of TSEs in sheep and humans. Given the difference in the pathogenesis of the disease in cattle and this mouse model, and taking account of the results of bioassays of cattle tissues in both mice and cattle, the committee concluded that there were no implications for the safety of the food chain from these findings. SEAC will continue to review these areas in the light of new scientific evidence.