Volume 6: Human Health, 1989-96
6. Events from 1 April to 31 December 1995: human health returns to the agenda
Introduction
Overview of events, 1 April to 31 December 1995

6.1 The events in the BSE story during 1995 were well summarised by Mr Thomas Eddy ¹ in his statement to the Inquiry:

1995. A year which started with concerns about CJD [Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease] cases in dairy farmers, continuing trade problems and saw the introduction of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) and the realisation that public health controls were not as they should be in some slaughterhouses and the first glimmerings that a new form of CJD might be arising. ²

6.2 In this chapter we start with the launch of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) on 1 April 1995, which was set up to bring about significant changes in the arrangements for enforcing meat hygiene standards in slaughterhouses. We describe briefly the functions of the Service and how it was staffed. We look at the views of witnesses about the benefits to be gained from the new arrangements. During the period covered by this chapter the MHS initiated two surveys of standards in slaughterhouses. We look at the results and outcomes of these surveys.

6.3 We then turn to the results from slaughterhouse surveillance by the State Veterinary Service (SVS) from April to December 1995. We give a chronological account of the surveillance visits to slaughterhouses undertaken by the SVS during this period to assess the extent of compliance with the SBO Regulations. We describe how during the second half of 1995 the SVS recorded instances of pieces of spinal cord being left in some carcasses at some slaughterhouses, and how, as a result, there were growing concerns within the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and Department of Health (DH) that BSE control measures were not being implemented adequately in some slaughterhouses.

6.4 The next main section of the chapter looks at developments in relation to mechanically recovered meat (MRM) from April to December 1995. As a result of the SVS reports that some slaughterhouses were not completely removing spinal cord from some carcasses, MAFF sought the views of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC), which concluded that, as a precaution, the use of bovine spinal column should be suspended in the production of MRM. We look at how this advice was implemented by means of the Specified Bovine Offal (Amendment) Order 1995, which came into force on 15 December 1995.

6.5 We then turn briefly to look at other developments in relation to BSE and CJD during April-December 1995, in particular the incidence of CJD in farmers and young people and the continuing BSE epidemic as a result of cases born after the ruminant feed ban. Further details on these two aspects of the story are given in vol. 8: Variant CJD and vol. 2: Science respectively.

6.6 The final section of the chapter examines the various statements issued during April-December 1995 by the Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC), Sir Kenneth Calman the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), the Secretary of State for Health and members of SEAC, and the reaction in the media to these statements. We also look at the efforts made by the MLC, in collaboration with MAFF, to increase sales of beef to the domestic market during this period.

Overview of events, 1 April to 31 December 1995

6.7 A national MHS was launched as an executive agency of MAFF on 1 April 1995, taking over responsibility from local authorities for meat inspection activities at slaughterhouses and other fresh meat establishments licensed by the Agriculture Departments in Great Britain.

6.8 Shortly after its launch, the MHS initiated the Hygiene Advice Team (HAT) exercise, a detailed inspection of hygiene and animal welfare standards in all full throughput slaughterhouses. The exercise was to provide baseline information on standards in the meat industry with the intention of measuring the progress of the MHS against these standards.

6.9 A suspect case of CJD in a teenager was referred to the CJD Surveillance Unit in May 1995. Press comment, and the reaction of MAFF and DH, are described in vol. 8: Variant CJD.

6.10 Animal Health Circular (AHC) 95/74 was issued to SVS staff on 19 May 1995, requiring unannounced visits to every slaughterhouse and cutting plant handling bovine material, to check on separation and staining of specified bovine offal (SBO), among other things. Subsequent surveillance visits were to reveal problems of compliance with the SBO Regulations, in particular the incomplete removal of spinal cord from some carcasses at some slaughterhouses.

6.11 Commission Decision 95/287 on 18 July 1995 amended the rules for export of fresh bovine meat from the UK to Member States. ³ Previous restrictions had not applied to meat from cattle born after 1 January 1992. This exemption was replaced with a provision exempting meat from cattle less than 30 months old at slaughter.

6.12 On 20 July 1995 the Specified Bovine Offal Order 1995 was made. This replaced and extended the existing bans on SBO in human food and in animal feed. Among other new prohibitions, it introduced restrictions on the premises where spinal cord could be removed from the vertebral column of cattle. The MLC issued a 'Position Statement' welcoming the proposed new measures, adding that there were no implications for human health because (among other reasons) 'all specified bovine offals from all cattle are removed and destroyed before the meat enters the human food chain'. The Specified Bovine Offal Order 1995 came into effect on 15 August 1995.

6.13 In the meantime, the MHS also commissioned a survey by a company of private veterinarians on compliance with SBO controls in slaughterhouses as at 1 April 1995.

6.14 In late September 1995 press reports described a third case where a person associated with a BSE-affected cattle herd had been diagnosed as having CJD. This is described further in vol. 8: Variant CJD.

6.15 The CJD Surveillance Unit's Fourth Annual Report was published on 5 October 1995. On the same day, DH issued a press release from the CMO, Dr Calman, stating that 'beef and other meats are safe to eat'.

6.16 On 26 October 1995 letters were published in the Lancet describing two cases of CJD in young patients. (One of these was the patient referred to the CJD Surveillance Unit in May.) This is described further in vol. 8: Variant CJD.

6.17 At a meeting on 9 November 1995, Mr Hogg told representatives of the slaughterhouse industry of his concern at the number of failings in SBO handling that had been found during the SVS visits, that he expected 100 per cent compliance, and that the MHS would be enforcing the controls 'most rigorously'.

6.18 Acting on the advice of SEAC, on 28 November 1995 the Government announced that it would prohibit the use of bovine vertebral column in the manufacture of MRM. This was achieved by the Specified Bovine Offal (Amendment) Order 1995, coming into force on 15 December.

6.19 During November and December 1995, the MLC ran an advertising campaign praising the UK veterinary and slaughterhouse regulations and their enforcement, and saying: 'With such stringency, even the remotest perceived risk is avoided.'

6.20 On 3 December 1995, in an interview on London Weekend Television, it was put to Mr Stephen Dorrell that: 'There is, you are saying, no conceivable risk from what is now in the food chain.' Mr Dorrell agreed.

6.21 On 7 December 1995 Dr R E Kendell, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, issued a press statement dealing with the eating of beef and the question of whether there was a connection between BSE and CJD. This is discussed in vol. 9: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

6.22 Changes to the teams of ministers and officials in MAFF and DH during the period covered by this chapter included:

MAFF Ministers

Mr Douglas Hogg succeeded Mr William Waldegrave as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on 5 July 1995. On the same day Mr Antony Baldry succeeded Mr Michael Jack as Minister of State. Earl Howe ceased to be Parliamentary Secretary (Lords) on 6 July 1995 and Mr Tim Boswell became Parliamentary Secretary (Commons) on that day.

MAFF officials

Dr Richard Cawthorne was Head of the Animal Health (Zoonoses) Division until that Division was disbanded on 31 March 1995 and he became Veterinary Head of the Notifiable Diseases Division.

Mr Peter Hewson became Temporary Veterinary Head of Section, Meat Hygiene Veterinary Section, on 31 July 1995. He took with him his responsibilities as Superintending Meat Hygiene Adviser. ⁴

Mr Johnston McNeill formally took office as Chief Executive of the national Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) on 1 April 1995. Mr Philip Corrigan was MHS Head of Operations until August 1995, when Mr Peter Soul, then Temporary Deputy Veterinary Head of the Meat Hygiene Veterinary Section, assumed the responsibilities of Acting Head of Operations. Mr Soul became Director of Operations of the MHS on 1 December 1995.

DH Ministers

Mr Stephen Dorrell succeeded Mrs Bottomley as Secretary of State in July 1995. In November 1995 Mr John Horam succeeded Mr Sackville as Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Commons).

DH officials

Dr Gerald Jones retired as Senior PMO in the Health Aspects of Environment and Food Division (M) in March 1995. This Division and its administrative counterpart were merged to become HEF Division under Dr Eileen Rubery as Under Secretary (Grade 3). Dr Wight became Head of an integrated unit within the Division, continuing to report to Dr Roger Skinner. Mr Charles Lister left HEF Division in November 1995, and Mr Mike Skinner attended subsequent meetings of SEAC as DH member of the Joint Secretariat.