Volume 5: Animal Health, 1989-96
2. The ruminant feed ban, 1989-96
Introduction

2.1 The purpose of the ruminant feed ban (RFB) was to prohibit all feeding of any ruminant protein to ruminants from 18 July 1988. Despite the general success of the RFB in reducing the incidence of BSE, the large number of animals born after 18 July 1988 that have been diagnosed with BSE (BABs) offer proof that this purpose was not realised in practice. Vol. 3: The Early Years, 1986-88 describes the introduction of the RFB. In that volume we identified accidental contamination of ruminant feed by other feed incorporating ruminant protein as the main reason for the occurrence of BABs. This chapter explains the circumstances in which cross-contamination occurred, and describes how MAFF came to appreciate that it was in fact occurring.

2.2 The chapter describes the difficulties of monitoring and enforcing the RFB. Without a reliable test for the presence of ruminant protein in feedstuffs, early monitoring of the ban was limited. It was, therefore, the emergence of BABs that provided MAFF with its first indication that the ban was not entirely effective in cutting off the source of BSE. The chapter therefore focuses on the consideration given to the emergence of the BABs and the efforts made to assess and then address their causes.