BSE and imported beef products: Some questions and answers
(Updated 26 March 2002)
What is BSE?
BSE is the abbreviation for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a disease affecting cattle. BSE attacks the brain of cattle, altering behaviour and causing them to stagger. This is why it is commonly called 'mad cow disease'.
BSE is caused by a heat-resistant but infectious protein (prion) which occurs in brain and nervous tissues of infected animals. The epidemic of BSE, commencing in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, is now known to have been spread by the feeding to cattle of meat-meal prepared from BSE-affected carcasses. The feeding of meat meal derived from ruminants (such as cattle, sheep and goats) to other ruminants has now been banned in the UK and most parts of Europe.
What is variant-CJD?
In 1996, a connection was made between the epidemic of BSE in cattle in the United Kingdom and a new human disease called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). Variant-CJD was detected in people in the UK about ten years after the epidemic of BSE had spread in cattle. By 28 December 2000, 88 cases of definite or probable vCJD had been diagnosed in the UK, in people who presumably developed vCJD after eating BSE prions in meat products from BSE-affected cattle.
What action was taken in 1996?
Imports of British beef products (specified risk materials) were suspended in 1996 by Commonwealth agencies, including the Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) and the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS). There has since been careful monitoring of the situation in the UK and Europe.
Has variant-CJD occurred in Australia?
No cases of vCJD have occurred in Australia. It is highly unlikely that any cases would have been missed, as there has been a very active program, funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care and supervised by Professor Colin Masters of the University of Melbourne, to detect cases of classical and medically-acquired CJD. In the years to come, it is possible that a very small number of Australian cases of vCJD might be detected in those who have eaten beef products while living in the UK.
What is classical CJD?
Classical CJD is a very rare and fatal disease in humans. It affects one person in a million every year in all countries, including Australia, and causes physical deterioration of the brain and dementia and walking difficulties. Classical CJD usually affects people between 50 and 70 years of age, and it differs clinically and pathologically from variant-CJD, which occurs in younger people.
Symptoms of classical CJD may not appear for many years after the disease process begins, but once they do, death usually occurs within 3 to 12 months. There is no effective treatment and no reliable test to identify the disease while the patient is alive. The course of illness in variant CJD is usually longer.
Classical CJD is not caused by eating BSE-affected beef.
Medically acquired CJD
CJD can be transmitted through medical procedures involving tissues from persons with CJD. For example nine cases of medically acquired CJD have been diagnosed in Australia, the majority following treatments with hormones (prepared from pituitaries of human cadavers until the risk was recognised in the late 1980s).
There is a theoretical risk that vCJD might be transmitted by blood transfusion from a CJD-affected donor, although this has never been observed. As a precaution in Australia, blood donations from persons who lived for more than six months in the UK in the period 1980-1996 have been deferred.
What is the connection between BSE, variant CJD and classical CJD?
All are caused by infectious prions and lead to disease after intervals of up to 30 years. There is good evidence that the BSE prion causes the human vCJD. Prions of BSE and vCJD are very similar, if not identical, but both differ from the prion of classical CJD. The BSE prion does not cause classical CJD.
Why has the suspension of British beef imports been extended to Europe?
Australia has one of the safest food supplies in the world. ANZFA is committed to a precautionary approach to food safety and manages a sophisticated recall system for food products that are found to be unsafe. ANZFA can also request the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) to exclude unsafe imported foods.
There have been recent reports that cases of BSE have been found in other parts of Europe in addition to the UK. Since receiving these reports, ANZFA has been working closely with AQIS and with health authorities to identify any beef products that are imported from these countries. While no fresh beef is imported to Australia, there are some imports of processed beef products.
Accordingly, health authorities and ANZFA have now requested AQIS to extend the existing import suspension to all beef products from those European countries with reported cases of
BSE ('mad cow disease'). Furthermore, the risk of BSE cannot be totally excluded in any European country at the present time. Accordingly, imports from all European countries will be suspended until there is enough information available to allow certification of beef sources that are BSE-free to the complete satisfaction of both Australia and New Zealand.
What if some imported products are in the supermarkets?
ANZFA has informed retailers who have agreed to a voluntary withdrawal of these products from their shelves. Customers may also wish to check the labels of products when they shop for food, particularly to identify beef as an ingredient in products produced in European countries. Where label information is not available, customers should not hesitate to ask shop staff about whether the product contains beef and has been imported from Europe.
Have other countries restricted imports of beef products from Europe?
The USA has banned imports of cattle from BSE-affected countries since 1989, and the restrictions were extended in 1991 and 1997 to cover most ruminant products, including beef products for human consumption from many European countries. Canada has a live ruminant ban and a ban on meat products from UK and other countries such as Germany, France, Spain, USA, Argentina and Finland. Japan restricts import of meat and bone meal, tallow, fats and greases and pet food from all EU member states. Other countries, including Brazil, Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia, Jordan, Russia, Egypt, Philippines and Thailand have suspended imports of beef products from a number of European countries.
What do I do if I have some of these products at home?
To avoid such products, you should check if there is beef in the ingredient list and check the country of origin identified on the label. The products should be discarded. They should not be fed to pets or other animals.
What if I have eaten any of these products?
This import suspension has been taken as a precautionary measure. The increase in reports of BSE in Europe is very recent and the Australian import restrictions on European beef products for human consumption have been put in place as soon as practicable. The risk of
anyone having been affected from eating of imported foods is extremely small, and smaller than for someone living in UK or Europe and eating beef products there.
Are any beef products exempt from the import suspension?
The following products are exempt from the import suspension for the reasons stated:
Product | Reason for exemption |
Beef flavourings, essences, seasonings and other stock cubes using artificial flavouring substances not derived from beef | Some beef flavourings and essences used in products such as stock, soups and sauces, although conferring beef flavour, do not contain any substances of bovine origin and therefore are exempt. |
Collagen from bovine skins and hides (including sausage casings produced from this type of collagen) | Current scientific evidence does not indicate the transmission of BSE to collagen from skin and hides. Note: sausage casings made from other bovine materials, including intestine, are not exempt. |
Fats and tallows | Current scientific evidence does not indicate the presence of the BSE prion in fat tissue. |
Gelatine | Current scientific evidence does not indicate the transmission of the BSE agent via gelatine. |
Milk and other dairy products | Current scientific evidence does not indicate the transmission of BSE from the milk of infected cattle. |
These exemptions will be under continuing review as more evidence becomes available.
I've seen beef products made in Britain on our shelves.
Some very low-risk food products made in Britain may not have been withdrawn under the previous import restrictions. These will be identified and withdrawn, along with similar products from other European countries, under the new restrictions.
I've also seen products called 'Hungarian' goulash or 'German' sausage.
Many of these products are not imported, but are made from Australian ingredients according to the traditional recipe. Such specialty products in cans are more likely to have been imported from overseas.
Beef products from affected countries could be on display for some time. Accordingly, it would be wise for customers to check labels or seek information from the retailer's staff before making purchase of such foods.
Are other European products also likely to carry BSE?
To date, BSE has been identified only in beef and in other food containing ingredients made from cattle. There is no reason to believe that other European foods are affected.
Can I get vCJD from eating beef in Australia?
Australia and New Zealand are two of only five countries recognised internationally as being BSE free. Imported beef and beef products are therefore the sole means by which BSE-affected products could enter the food supply. The suspension of imports of beef products from all European countries has been taken to protect the consumer and maintain public confidence in the safety of the food supply.
Further information
BSE (mad cow disease) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Australian Department of Health and Aged Care
New Zealand Ministry of Health
UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
www.maff.gov.uk/animalh/bse/index.html
US Food and Drug Administration
The CJD Foundation
January 2001
Copies of other FSANZ fact sheets can be obtained from the FSANZ web site at www.foodstandards.gov.au or www.foodstandards.govt.nz or from the Information Officer, Australia New Zealand Food Authority at:
PO Box 7186 Tel (02) 6271 2241 | PO Box 10559, The Terrace Tel (04) 473 9942 |