§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Food Standards Agency concerning manufacturers of food products who will not disclose when they use mechanically recovered meat. [32797]
§ Yvette CooperI apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002,Official Report, at column 192W.
I have been advised by the Food Standards Agency that a research project, to establish whether bovine mechanically recovered meat (MRM) was a significant source of human exposure to material infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy between 1980 and 1995, is currently being finalised with potential contractors. The agency has had preliminary discussions with the main meat trade associations who have said that they will help gather as much information as possible. The results of the study will be reported to the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, which advises the Government on matters concerning BSE and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, and will be made publicly available.