BSE Controls Review: Your response: letter from Anne Maddocks

Dear Jane Gibson

Thank you for your helpful phone discussion this morning, (Tues. 31st Oct. 2000) about MRM and related topics.

I have now had chance to read the MRM section paras 69-73 in the newest working draft of the FSA Review of BSE Controls which arrived this morning.

While this does answer some of the points I was making it does however raise other issues.

The whole area of red meat MRM has tended to be rather murky and shrouded, presumably to avoid the protest problems they had in the USA in the 1970s.

Labelling para 72

Some of the difficulties have arisen in the past because the status of labelling was not certain and was open to argument apparently. (see Cockbill Memorandum made available to the Inquiry)

Although still somewhat complex (ie more than one regulator - FSA/MHS and Local Authority and ? imports) it should be possible to tell from registrations how much red meat MRM is actually still marketed and of what type.

I make this point because if the para71 comment about not using bovine bones to manufacture food products is really the case, it would be expected that there could be no UK beef MRM on the market, and of course no bone marrow problem

As we discussed there were 2 or 3 types of MRM machines, which involved greater or less incorporation of material from the bones themselves.

There were 2 types of MRM. One appeared similar to very finely ground meat and the other was described as a dark red slurry (indicating the presence of bone marrow from compressed bones.)

I was not aware that the beef bone restrictions had not been lifted for manufactured products when I was discussing the issue this morning.

I think none the less it would be helpful to clarify the exact present position

(1) How much red meat MRM is actually made ? and what types? (ie if any is made is it on the basis that a particular technique does not involve any bone being incorporated?)

(2) Is labelling a statutory legal requirement now?

(3) a test for Nerve tissue does not cope with the presence of bone marrow which is a different problems and would need tests based on something like purines or DNA or maybe iron or microscopy (not very practical.)

Bone marrow testing for scrapie and BSE has given varied results but the recent sheep to sheep BSE blood transfusion experiment suggests that contained blood cells in marrow could be one source of infection.

The past measures were mainly aimed at avoiding nerve tissue if the ban on any use of bones in the UK really does apply to bovine MRM the problem is presumably solved.

Yours sincerely

Anne Maddocks
FRC Path