Volume 5: Animal Health, 1989-96
3. Introduction of the animal SBO ban
Introduction

3.1 In June 1989 the Government announced its intention to ban Specified Bovine Offal (SBO) from human food. The introduction of the 'human SBO ban', on 13 November 1989 by the Bovine Offal (Prohibition) Regulations 1989, is examined in vol. 6: Human Health, 1989-1996. The intention of the SBO ban was to prohibit the use of SBO in the preparation of food for human consumption. SBO was defined as the brain, spinal cord, thymus, spleen, tonsils and intestines from a bovine animal over 6 months of age. ¹

3.2 The inclusion of any ruminant-derived protein in feed intended for ruminants had been prohibited by the ruminant feed ban (RFB) since July 1988 (see Chapter 2: 'The ruminant feed ban 1989-96' and vol. 3: The Early Years 1986-88). ² However, the announcement in June 1989 of the Government's intention to introduce a ban for human food raised questions about the inclusion of SBO in feed for non-ruminant animals. Most pet food manufacturers acted soon after the Government's announcement by voluntarily excluding from their products any SBO that they had been using up to that point. Significant pressure was also exerted on the Government by industry and consumer groups to introduce a statutory ban on the inclusion of SBO in feed for all animals. This chapter describes the form that this pressure took and the Government's resistance to it.

3.3 The United Kingdom Agriculture Supply and Trade Association (UKASTA), the principal body representing the interests of agricultural merchants and animal feedstuff manufacturers, lobbied MAFF for the SBO ban to be extended to include animal feedstuffs. In November 1989, following the Government's refusal to introduce such a ban, UKASTA recommended the voluntary exclusion of SBO from animal feed to all its members. MAFF maintained that such action was unjustified and unnecessary. However, in September 1990 MAFF announced the introduction of a ban on the inclusion of SBO in all animal feed. The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) had recommended such a ban following the diagnosis of spongiform encephalopathy in a number of cats and also the experimental transmission of BSE to a pig. This chapter describes the events that led to this decision and the preparation of the resultant Order.