BSE controls final report, Chairman's foreword
In March 2000 the Prime Minister asked the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to review the current main measures to protect the public against BSE/vCJD in relation to the food chain and to report to UK and Devolved Administration Health and Agriculture Ministers. The FSA review team was advised by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee and other external experts and consulted the four Chief Medical Officers, the Chief Veterinary Officer and the Chief Scientific Adviser.
BSE has caused a harrowing and invariably fatal disease for humans. In the UK, as this report is published, the number of vCJD victims stands at over 80. No other food-borne disease is currently surrounded by so much uncertainty and carries such dreadful consequences for people. It is vitally important for public confidence that the risks associated with BSE, and the actions taken to manage those risks, are fully exposed to public scrutiny.
We have conducted our review in a very public manner. Throughout we have consulted a stakeholder group comprising representatives of consumer, industry and professional organisations and the Health and Agriculture Departments in the UK. We are most grateful for their helpful and constructive participation in our work. All the meetings of the stakeholder group were held in public and observers at them played a full part in our discussions. We also set up a dedicated internet site on which drafts of our report were posted for comment.
The uncertainties surrounding BSE mean that the current risk management options for protecting the health of the public are precautionary in nature and are aimed at risk reduction in the light of current knowledge, recognising that risks may not be totally eliminated.
However the FSA will continue to evaluate the BSE controls. We will scrutinise new scientific results as they emerge, as well as new information on enforcement. We will not hesitate to take further action, based on the evidence, to protect public health.
The report which follows recommends no immediate relaxation in the controls and, in some instances, proposes some tightening of them. It discusses issues bearing on European matters and makes suggestions for research. I commend its recommendations to the Government.
John Krebs