Commission proposes steps to protect consumers from dangerous food
The European Commission has adopted a proposal to exclude condemned animal material from the feed chain. The move 'is one of the key actions of the White paper on food safety and a major step towards preventing feed-borne food crises such as BSE and dioxin contamination,' according to the Heath and consumer safety Directorate-General. The proposed regulation prohibits the recycling of fallen stock and condemned animal material in animal feed. The only animal material allowed to be used for the production of animal feed would then be material derived from animals declared fit for human consumption following veterinary inspection. 'This will further reduce any risk of disease transmission and the risk of presence of residues in animal feed,' says the Commission. The proposal sets out clear rules for what to do with the animal materials that are excluded from the feed chain, including new options such as transformation of the material into biogas. 'It aims to establish a more transparent, comprehensive and directly applicable legal framework which will replace and simplify the present multitude of scattered veterinary directives and decisions which have developed over more than a decade and in response to internal market requirements and crisis situations,' explains the Commission. 'The fundamental objective of this proposal is to revamp veterinary legislation on animal by-products so that it lives up to the highest standard of human health and animal health protection,' said David Byrne, Commissioner for Health and consumer protection. The proposal separates animal material into three categories: - The highest risk material is described as 'Category 1 material'. This must be completely disposed of by incineration or landfill after undergoing appropriate heat treatment. This includes animal by-products presenting a risk related to transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) or a risk related to the presence of residues of prohibited substances used illegally (such as hormones to promote growth) or residues of environmental contaminants (such as dioxins or PCBs). - Category 2 material includes animal by-products presenting a risk-related to animal disease other than TSEs or a risk of residues of veterinary drugs. Manure, digestive tract contents and slaughterhouse water treatment waste are also included in this category. These materials may only be recycled for uses other than nutrition after appropriate heat treatment. - Category 3 material includes by-products derived from healthy animals. Only by-products belonging to this category can be used as feed materials following an appropriate treatment. The proposal also lays down regulations for the separation of the three types of animal material during collection, transport, storage and processing as well as an identification and registration system for the final products. '[The] proposal is a far-reaching, ambitious piece of legislation, based on science and the political determination to make consumer safety our top priority,' said Commissioner Byrne. It must now be approved by the European Parliament and Council of Ministers before entering into force. Scientist now believe that feed containing contaminated waste has been the source of dioxin contamination and triggered the spread of bovine spongiform encephalitis (BSE or mad cow disease) to humans. The proposal aims to minimise this risk in future, but many fear it has come too late. Its announcement coincides with publication of a long-awaited UK report on the handling of the BSE crisis in Britain. The report is highly critical of the UK government and civil service's response to early warnings from the scientific community of the potential threat of the disease jumping from cows to humans. The first known victim of such a disease -now called new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD) - died on 21 May 1995 at the age of 19.