Britain to check French beef

LONDON, England -- Britain is sending a delegation of food safety officials to France to ensure French beef does not pose a health risk to British consumers.

The move comes amid renewed concern in Europe over the spread of mad cow disease, and its possible link to a fatal brain-wasting condition in humans.

Officials from Britain's Food Standards Agency are expected to travel to France in the next few days. Health Secretary Alan Milburn said they will seek to "satisfy themselves that French procedures are adequate."

The British government has already asked France to confirm that beef which may be contaminated cannot find its way into British shops. But it has so far rejected calls for an outright ban on French beef imports.

The European Union (EU) announced plans earlier this week to test millions of cattle in a bid to discover how far mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), has penetrated cattle herds in Europe.

All cattle aged above 30 months will undergo post-mortem tests if their meat is destined for the food chain.

So far this year, 109 infected cows have been detected in France. On Wednesday, officials in Spain confirmed the first known case of the disease there.

Tests were also being carried out on a second cow suspected of carrying the infection.

Spanish Agriculture Minister Miguel Arias Canete described the cases as "isolated," and said their was no risk of the food chain being contaminated.

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BSE first surfaced in Britain in 1986. But it was only ten years later that the government acknowledged there could be a link between mad cow disease and a similar condition in humans, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).

As a result, British beef exports to the rest of Europe were banned for more than three years. Scientists from the European Commission declared British beef safe last year, but a French ban on imports is still in place.

There is no known cure for vCJD, and the disease has already killed more than 80 people in Britain and two in France.

Reuters contributed to this report.

UK sets French beef deadline
November 22, 2000
Mad cow disease strikes Spain
November 23, 2000
EU extends tests for mad cow disease
November 21, 2000
Families sue over vCJD 'poisoning'
November 21, 2000
France bans beef on the bone
November 15, 2000
French blame 'mad cow' on Britain
November 11, 2000

British Ministry of Agriculture - BSE Information
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation, Inc.
World Health Organisation - BSE Fact Sheet
Human BSE Foundation
The European Commission

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