Sludge Watch ==> BSE Dilema: Do we want animal carcasses in animal feed?

[Maureen Reilly]

BSE dilemma
01.jun.07
Yorkshire Post [UK]
http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/comment?articleid=2924032


The first time most people outside the agriculture industry realised that 
animals were sometimes fed carcasses from other herds was, according to this 
editorial, when the practice was identified as potentially responsible for 
spreading BSE.

Moves in the European Union to drop the ban on the use of animal carcasses 
in feed are premature to say the least. While the number of cases of BSE in 
cattle has fallen dramatically, much is still unknown about this disease.\

In humans, confirmed vCJD cases have been relatively rare – but scientists 
have warned that it may take many years for the true scale of the problem to 
become apparent.
In food production, public confidence is everything. The British beef 
industry is only now recovering from the blow dealt by BSE and the 
associated 10-year ban
on exports.

Even if EU scientists should decide that there is no inherent risk to public 
health posted by the use of animal carcasses in feed, it would be folly to 
jeopardise that recovery by returning to a farming method that consumers 
still associate strongly with mad cow disease.
Setting aside concerns about BSE, any move to allow animal carcasses in feed 
would also be hopelessly out of step with a growing public desire for food 
that is produced in a more traditional and sustainable way and which avoids 
intensive farming methods.

The editorial goes on to say that the move to re-introduce animal parts to 
feed is driven by a desire to cut costs for producers facing increased 
prices for vegetable protein. It is understandable that hard-pressed farmers 
might look favourably on measures which may save them money but, in this 
case, the potential risks to both human health and the food industry are 
simply too high.






Return of the BSE nightmare?
02.jun.07
Western Daily Press [UK]
Chris Rundle
http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=145786&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231644&home=yes&more_nodeId1=145795&contentPK=17468794

Horrified farmers are, according to this story, warning of an enormous 
public backlash if European Union politicians consider relaxing the ban on 
using animal remains in farm feed.

Richard Haddock, the National Farmers' Union's regional chairman and one of 
the region's largest beef farmers, was quoted as saying: "Quite honestly 
anyone who lived through the nightmare of BSE will be asking why precisely 
they are even looking at this again.
"I was nearly bankrupted by BSE and two people I knew very well were so 
driven to despair that they committed suicide.

"I cannot think why we would ever want to start taking any kind of risk 
associated with feeding animal remains to animals.

"I do not think there will be a single farmer who will be happy with the 
idea, and I think above all, we are risking an enormous public backlash just 
when we are starting to rebuild consumer confidence in food, and at a time 
when more and more people are becoming concerned about the provenance of 
what constitutes their diet."

Mr Haddock was further quoted as saying that if the process did start, then 
farmers would expect it to be totally underwritten by the EU in case of any 
consumer backlash or outbreak of disease.
"That is going to include picking up the bill for any loss of income if 
there is a consumer reaction against pigs and poultry produced in this way 
and for coping with any disease outbreak that there might be.

"At a time when the authorities are talking about loading farmers with at 
least half the cost of disease control, it seems ridiculous to be adding to 
the potential risks."

Somerset pig farmer Alan Rose was quoted as saying that he was horrified to 
learn of the research.
"We have only just managed to get back the credibility we lost through the 
BSE crisis and I think we would be very foolish to even consider it,"

"There is going to be a tremendous amount of work involved at the mills to 
separate out this feed from ruminant feed, and as it will only be going into 
the diet as a protein supplement it seems a little pointless. After all, 
there is still plenty of other protein around. The only benefit I can see 
from it is that it might cut back on greenhouse gas emissions because, since 
we have been prevented from burying dead farm animals, they all have to be 
burned.

"But it's the public reaction I worry about most. The rest of Europe seems 
to be fairly pragmatic about this but the British memory is a lot longer 
than many people realise."

The story goes on to say that BSE is assumed to have originated when 
renderers were allowed to reduce the cooking temperature of meat-and-bone 
meal to save money, which allowed the meal to become infected with scrapie, 
an endemic brain-rotting disease in sheep.

But the link has never been completely proved, and the picture has further 
been clouded by the subsequent discovery of a non-scrapie type condition in 
sheep, which could also be a potential candidate.

An alternative theory was advanced by organic farmer Mark Purdey, who died 
earlier this year.
He claimed BSE was triggered by organophosphate chemicals, poured on to the 
backs of cattle in order to combat warble fly, though was never able to 
fully substantiate his belief.

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