Byrnes concern at German BSE test
15 January 2001
Byrnes concern at German BSE test
By FWi staff
GERMANY has been asked by the EU Commission to provide more information on its BSE testing programme, reports the Financial Times.
Food safety commissioner David Byrne is concerned that a case of the disease was found in an animal younger than 30 months old.
The Commission said that infected cattle less than 30 months old had only previously been found in Britain when the epidemic was at its height.
In another development Austria has reported its first probable case of the disease and Italy has reported its first case since 1994.
The BSE panic on the Continent has led to a 27% fall in EU beef consumption reports the FT.
France and Germany have seen a 40% fall in consumption, Greece has seen a 50% decline and the average EU price is down by a quarter.
A poll by The Guardian across eight countries revealed that 86% of the public are worries about BSE.
Exceptions were Britain where only 54% said they were concerned, and France and Spain where 57% were worried.
Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reports that fresh tests are to be carried out to se if BSE can be passed to humans through cows milk.
The Food Standards Agency has commissioned a new study on calves which will begin soon.
Milk was declared safe after tests in 1995, but experts now believe these were inconclusive, reports the Mail.
- Financial Times 15 January 2001 page 7
- The Guardian 15 January 2001 page 8 and 13
- Daily Mail 15 January 2001 page