§ Mr. ChallenTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what scientific evidence she has collated that supports the proposed ban on the use of sheep's intestines in the manufacture of sausages. [68068]
§ Ms BlearsI have been asked to reply.
I am advised by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that the basis of their recommendation to the European Commission that sheep intestine be banned as specified risk material (SRM) is outlined in a report by a core group of stakeholders endorsed by the Board of the FSA on 13 June 2002. The risk assessments taken into account in this report indicate that the proposed ban, added to the current controls, could increase the reduction in potential infectivity entering the food chain to up to two-thirds if BSE were found in sheep. Current precautionary SRM 1155W measures are estimated to reduce risk by very approximately one-third. The FSA believes the proposed measure has to be considered in the context of the lives that might be saved from variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vCJD) if BSE were present in sheep.
A copy of the report can be found on the FSA's website www.food.gov.uk
§ Mr. ChallenTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the potential presence of BSE in beef protein collagen used in the manufacture of sausages. [68069]
§ Ms BlearsI have been asked to reply.
The Food Standards Agency have advised me that the European Commission Scientific Committee gave an opinion on safety with respect to TSEs (transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, including BSE) and the risks of collagen produced from ruminant hides at its meeting of 10–11 May 2001. They concluded that on the basis of current knowledge the parts of ruminant hides used for the production of collagen do not present a risk with regard to TSEs, provided contamination with potentially infected material is avoided. It is a regulatory requirement that food and food products (including collagen) must not be derived from BSE cases or suspected cases, or from specified risk material.