Thirteen French laboratories are soon to screen 20,000 cows a week as part of a testing programme designed to uncover the extent of BSE and restore consumer confidence, flagging since meat potentially infected with BSE found its way to supermarket shelves last October.
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Concern is running high as many scientists believe there is a link between BSE and the fatal human disease vCJD, and the 153 infected cattle recorded in France during 2000 were five times the number found in 1999.
The move will put France months ahead of the EU regulations laid down last November, which required that from 1 July each of the fifteen member nations must examine its cattle most at risk of BSE. France has announced that it will examine every one of the two million cows in the country over the age of 30 months as soon as possible, agriculture minister Jean Glavany explaining: “The best way to revive the market is to begin the process as quickly as possible.”
Any animal found to be infected will be destroyed, and when the French food safety authority confirms positive results, the entire herd to which the infected cow belonged will also be slaughtered and destroyed. There are fears however that the cost of the testing programme will push up the price of beef, further inhibiting the revival of the market.
