Health warning as British shoppers served up TB meat
SIGNIFICANT amounts of bovine TB infected meat could be entering the human food chain, according to a leading animal group. Viva! is calling for urgent reform on meat labelling across the UK, after it emerged that consumers are – without prior knowledge – purchasing products which have come from cattle infected with TB. Many may be shocked to learn that according to Defra guidelines, even if an animal has a TB infected lesion, he will still enter the food chain once it is removed providing no other lesions are detected.** TB infected beef is a known vector for passing the disease to humans through undercooked meat*. Despite official advice that “normal cooking’ will kill the bacteria**, rare steak, and other undercooking of meat, could potentially pose a health risk. Meat from infected animals is not labelled, so consumers are unable to make an informed – and health protecting – choice about cooking methods, claim the group. Reactors (animals that have been earmarked as being likely to be infected with bovine TB) will enter the food chain if they have no visible lesions. In the 1930s – before the pasteurisation of milk – over 50,000 new cases of human TB were recorded each year in Great Britain and it was estimated that 2,500 people were dying annually from TB caused by M. bovis. TB infection in cattle in Great Britain is increasing***, with more infected meat potentially entering the food chain. Tuberculosis can remain dormant for many years, which means that there is potentially a ticking time bomb of tuberculosis infection in the population, claims Viva!. Viva! campaigns manager, Justin Kerswell, says: “What have the Government got to hide? If TB infected meat is safe to eat why not label it as such and let consumers decide for themselves what they feed their families? Because so many people ignore, or are simply unaware of, the need to cook meat thoroughly to kill the disease some could be unwittingly putting themselves at risk by eating rare steak and other undercooked meats. “TB cases in cattle have gone through the roof because of poor farming practices and Government ineptitude. Whilst the chance of catching TB through infected meat might be small at the moment, the alarming increase of the disease in British cattle means the threat could be growing to human health. You have to ask yourself, am I happy to feed TB infected meat to my family? Of course, meat consumption already entails a multitude of problems to health. The best way to protect yourself is to give meat the heave-ho and go vegetarian.” Ends For more information, contact Justin Kerswell by emailing justin@viva.org.uk or press officer Helen Rossiter by emailing press@viva.org.uk or calling 0117 944 1000. Notes to editors * “Eating habits also exacerbate the transmission of bovine TB (e.g., by consuming raw and undercooked meat)” Mycobacterium bovis: Infection in Animals and Humans (2006) Charles O. Thoen, James H. Steele and Michael J. Gilsdorf (Blackwell publishing) http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nCrvAXA73TIC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=tb+infected+beef&source=bl&ots=T5xkFsnoPu&sig=oAn-lhepadl3G8mw3Omk6_UzAbU&hl=en&ei=z5snSuuVBMXRjAfH6IzWAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9#PPR10,M1 ** Dealing with Bovine TB in your herd (Defra, pg 41): http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalhealth/managing-disease/bTb/pdf/tbinyh-0508.pdf *** Defra TB statistics: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/stats/county.htm Viva! campaigns against the “culling’ of badgers in Great Britain, and were instrumental in the decision for badger “culling’ not to go ahead in England. They are currently campaigning against the Welsh Assembly’s decision to “cull’ badgers in Wales. A fully referenced Viva! fact sheet on badgers and bTB can be read on-line at http://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/badgers/factsheet.htm
About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
Justine joined Viva! in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. After working as a campaigner, then researcher and writer, she is now Viva!’s head of research and her work focuses on animals, the environment and health. Justine’s scientific training helps her research and write both in-depth scientific reports, such as White Lies and the Meat Report, as well as easy-to-read factsheets and myth-busting articles for consumer magazines and updates on the latest research. Justine also recently wrote the Vegan for the Planet guide for Viva!’s Vegan Now campaign.
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