§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) when she first learned of Professor Bostock' s concerns about the possible contamination of samples of sheeps' brains on which tests were being conducted for evidence of BSE; [10595]
(2) how many checks were made, and on what date, into whether samples of brain matter collected in the 1990s and investigated by the Institute of Animal Health in relation to BSE in sheep contained bovine material. [10596]
§ Margaret Beckett[holding answer 26 October 2001]: It has been known since the experiments began that there were some doubts about whether the brains involved could be cross-contaminated with bovine material. The sheep brains used in the study were not collected under the stringent sterile procedures normally used for such material. the possibility of contamination was raised by Professor Bostock and discussed by the Spongeform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee in February 2000. It was recognised in the public statement made by the Food 490W Standards Agency on 2 August 2001, which explained that the possibility of contamination of the samples with BSE infected cow brains needed further investigation.
DEFRA first approached an independent laboratory asking if they would be able to conduct tests to determine whether the scrapie brain pool (collected in the early 1990s and used in the Institute of Animal Health experiment) contained bovine material in June 2001. Results of the work were reported to DEFRA on 17 October.