#########hello Fred,
> Could you please give me some details on
> "bovine blood in French wines"
sure, be glad to;
BSE and French Wine
Lord Cocks of Hartcliffe asked Her Majesty's Government:
Given that French wine producers have been forbidden to add dried
bulls blood to French wines by the European Community since October
1997, whether imported French wine produced before 1997 is a health
hazard to British drinkers.[HL3825]
Baroness Hayman: There is no evidence that wine produced in France
before 1997 and which was clarified with blood albumin poses a threat to
human health.
11 Oct 1999 : Column WA47
Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
In relation to the genetically engineered hormone rBST, which
stimulated IGF-1, a blood hormone which causes cells to divide, how many
cows in the United Kingdom have so far been injected with such a
modified hormone; whether the milk of such cows has been sold without
special labelling or health warning; if so, in what quantities; and over
what period.[HL4004]
Baroness Hayman: There is a moratorium on the use of recombinant bovine
somatotropin (rBST) in the European Union. Trials on products containing
rBST were carried out in the UK in the mid to late 1980s. The maximum
number of cows which may have been treated in the trials was estimated
at 1,130, although..........
snip...
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld199899/ldhansrd/vo991011/text/91011w12.htm
now, lets see what U.S. Senators _first_ proposed this,
and in good faith, not due to ''blackmail'' for some
God for saken agenda, instead of doing it 1st and
long ago over the potential threat to human health...
US Senators push for warning labels on French wine
August 9, 1999 Reuters
Comment (webmaster):
This disgusting account broke on 24 June 99. Many people do not want ox
blood put into their wine and if it is done, it should be prominently
displayed on the label so that consumers have an informed choice. The
reaction below may have more to do with beef exports than sincere health
concerns but it does serve to give visibility to this issue.
WASHINGTON, DC, -- Three US senators are advocating that French wines
carry labels warning of possible contamination with animal blood
infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or 'mad cow'
disease). BSE has been linked to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a fatal
degenerative brain disorder in humans.
The senators' proposed legislation would amend the US Federal Food, Drug
and Cosmetic Act to require French wines to carry a warning label saying
"dried animal blood is occasionally used as a clarifying agent in French
wines." However, French officials say the practice was stopped in 1997,
and that all wine containing animal blood has been seized and made
unavailable for export.
Both Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and BSE are thought to be caused by
prions, rogue proteins that cause a gradual deterioration of brain
tissue. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease begins with personality changes and
difficulties with movement, and progresses to irreversible dementia. The
disease is invariably fatal within about one year.
Some experts believe that cases of a new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease in Europe may have been linked to consumption of beef from
animals infected with BSE. That suspected association led to a temporary
ban on exports of British beef.
US Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS) joined two Democrats, Bob Kerrey of
Nebraska and Max Baucus of Montana, in offering the legislation after
news that China had halted sales of French wine because of concerns that
vintners had used dried cattle blood as a clarifying agent.
"It is ironic that the French, who have long banned the import of US
beef products based on unproved health concerns, now face a growing
scandal in regard to their prized wine product," Roberts said.
"They have argued their consumers need to be warned of all the
'possible' risks of foreign-produced food products. While the vast
majority of French wine is probably perfectly safe, US consumers are
entitled to the same disclosure of information regarding French
products," he said.
Before the European Union banned the practice in 1997, some European
vintners used albumins (proteins) from animal blood to filter out
impurities and sediments. Last month French authorities identified a
handful of wineries still using cow's blood, a French trade official said.
"All of that wine has been seized," the French official said. "It's not
possible for any of it to be exported." [Yes, but what about all the
other red wine that has been exported to the US over the last 15 years?
-- webmaster]
http://www.mad-cow.org/sep99_news.html#ddd
French wine seized for oxblood checks
Reuters North America Thu, Jun 24, 1999
PARIS - French health inspectors have seized 66,000 litres of Rhone
Valley wine that may have been treated with oxblood powder, banned in
the European Union since the 1997 mad cow disease scare, officials said
on Thursday. [This apparently means that the French used this product
throughout the BSE epidemic, 1984-1999 -- webmaster]
Gerard Bedos, head of the state regional consumer watchdog in Marseille,
said inspectors seized the wine and 220 kg (480 lb) of powdered oxblood
in the region around Avignon earlier this month. Bedos told the
newspaper France-Soir the wine was being tested to determine whether it
had been treated with oxblood.
He made it clear that the wine was labelled as lesser-quality VDQS table
wine and not the renowned Cotes-du-Rhone wine which bears the
high-quality AOC (Appellation d'Origine Controlee) label. Dried oxblood
was routinely used to purify wine until the EU banned it two years ago
in a health scare over the cattle disease.
Stores play down French wine alert
Thu, Jun 24, 1999 By Eileen Murphy, Consumer Affairs Correspondent, PA News
Fears that bottles of French wine containing dried cow's blood could be
on sale in the UK despite a ban on using the product following the BSE
scare were today played down by major supermarket chains and
off-licences. The latest European scare comes as French authorities
seized 100,000 suspect bottles thought to contain the blood after a
swoop on 14 vineyards in the Cotes du Rhone area.
But Britain's major retailers claim their tracing schemes and wine
buying specifications would ensure that the most likely way British
drinkers would get their hands on affected wine would be buying it on
cross-Channel trips. The blood, traditionally dried bull's blood, has
long been used as a fining agent to clear wine as it ferments but its
use was banned two years ago as a precaution in the wake of the "mad cow
disease" crisis.
Investigators found a tonne of the blood in the swoop on the area, which
exports millions of bottles of table wine to Britain every year.
Analysts are now examining samples from dozens more vineyards. Bottles
marked VDQS, or vins de qualite superieur -- the French term for good
quality table wines -- are the ones most at risk of containing the
blood. French table wine exporter Jean Pistonier said: "It is probable
that, if the ban had been flouted for the past two years, several
million bottles of the vetoed product have crossed to Britain."
But one of Britain's most senior wine buyers said these low-grade wines,
which do not specify which region they come from, are unlikely to find
their way on to the nation's shop shelves. Julian Twaites, senior wine
buyer for Britain's biggest off licence chain, First Quench, assured
customers today that his company did not buy or stock any bottles of the
affected wines. First Quench, owns around 3,000 stores nationwide under
names such as Thresher, Victoria Wines, Bottoms Up and Wine Rack.
Mr Twaites said: "We can assure people that red wines marked VDQS are
not stocked in our stores. "This red wine would be at the bottom end of
the market and supplies in this country would be limited. It would be
unlikely that it would be on sale in major retailers in the UK as our
wine buyers would always buy from the quality end of the market."
He added that the real problem for consumers in the UK would be those
travelling across the Channel on booze-cruises to stock up on cheap
French wine. "Some people try to buy the cheapest wine they can and this
is where it could be affected." "The French drink all the bad stuff
themselves and export the good stuff. All of the wine we supply is
traceable back to individual vineyards."
Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket chain, said it had not stocked VDQS
wines for around five years. A company spokesman said its stores stocked
around 120 varieties of red wine but none was made using this method. He
added: "This is a practice that has been banned from our own
specifications from the first time the BSE crisis was identified and it
hasn't been used on our wines since."
Asda said it was monitoring the situation to see if any other wines were
affected but had checked its stocks and was sure it did not sell any
affected wine. Sainsbury's added that cow's blood had been excluded from
their specifications for wine suppliers since the ban two years ago.
Red wine seized by French in CJD alert
June 25 1999 L.Times Susan Bell in Paris
FRENCH health inspectors have seized more than 100,000 bottles of RhÙne
Valley wine amid fears that it might have been treated with powdered
cattle blood, which has been banned in the European Union since 1997
after concern over mad cow disease. As a government swoop on 14
vineyards in the Vaucluse and Bouches du RhÙne region revealed that
blood could still be being added illegally to wine as a purifying
substance, one French table-wine exporter, Jean Pistonier, said that
millions of bottles of wine containing ox blood could have been exported
to Britain in the years after the ban.
Blood is traditionally used after vinification to clarify the wine by
eliminating resin and suspended particles.
The RhÙne Valley regional Wine and Spirits Inspection Office said that
480 lb of purifying products based on cow's blood had been seized, with
more than 100,000 bottles of suspect wine between June 7 and 14 in the
region around Avignon.
Although the vineyards and wine wholesalers involved were located in
areas that carry the renowned CÙtes de Provence and CÙtes du RhÙne AOC
or "appellation d'origine controlÈe" - the French label guaranteeing
quality wines - three quarters of the impounded wine carried the lower
quality VDQS table-wine label. However, the equivalent of 27,000 bottles
of an AOC "natural sweet wine" was seized by inspectors.
GÈrard Bedos, who heads the regional Consumer and Anti-Fraud Office in
Marseilles, assured customers yesterday that the CÙtes du RhÙne and
CÙtes de Provence AOC wines were not involved. The impounded wine is
being tested to determine whether it has been treated with ox blood.
Dried cow's blood had been used for centuries to purify wine until the
European Union banned it as a precautionary measure in November 1997
after scientists found links between bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE) and the human brain disorder Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease [first BSE
case detected 1984, first 10 nvCJD cases announced 20 Mar 1996 --
webmaster]. Jamie Quiot, head of the National Institute of AOC wines,
defended the use of such products. "They are not toxic at all. We only
asked for their withdrawal to protect our image," he said.
The RhÙne Valley Wine Co-operative also played down the scare, saying
that it was astounded by the fuss over "a practice as old as the world,
part of ancestral wine-making". It denounced what it described as "a
psychosis" by wine inspectors "threatening the local economy".
Emmanuel Lerat, of the National Confederation of AOC Wine and Spirits
Producers, said that the vineyards found using the ox blood were small
producers using outdated methods such as egg white to purify wine. Such
practices are increasingly being abandoned for more modern and efficient
methods, notably using clay-based purifying substances such as bentonite.
The affair comes as France has suffered a succession of food scares
involving BSE, dioxin-contaminated poultry products from Belgium, and
allegations of illness caused by contaminated Coca-Cola products and
French unpasteurised cheese. Wine producers now fear that they will be
next to suffer the economic consequences of customers' fears concerning
the safety of their food.
MAJOR British wine retailers are contacting their suppliers to ensure
the wines they sell do not come from vineyards where dried cow's blood
has been used illegally as a fining agent (Tim Jones writes). Oddbins
said it had none of the affected VDQS vins de qualitÈ supÈrieur wines on
its shelves. First Quench, whose outlets include Wine Rack, Bottoms Up,
Threshers and Victoria Wine, said its VDQS wine was free of blood. Tesco
said it had banned the use of cows' blood as soon as it was aware of the
scare. Sainsbury said none of its wine came from the CÙtes du RhÙne
area, and Marks & Spencer said all its wine was free of animal material
as a fining agent.
http://www.mad-cow.org/~tom/jun99_late_news.html#ccc
OPINION ON:
THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE RECENT PAPERS ON TRANSMISSION
OF BSE BY BLOOD TRANSFUSION IN SHEEP (HOUSTON ET AL,
2000; HUNTER ET AL, 2002)
http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/ssc/out280_en.pdf
Rec 16 May 2002; Acc 9 July 2002 DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.18580-0
Transmission of prion diseases by blood transfusion
Nora Hunter,1 James Foster,1 Angela Chong,1 Sandra McCutcheon,2 David
Parnham,1 Samantha Eaton,1 Calum MacKenzie1 and Fiona Houston2
see full text;
http://www.socgenmicrobiol.org.uk/JGVDirect/18580/18580ft.pdf
however, what's a little blood in wine when you have these
type imports of potentially TSE infected products;
Other US BSE risks: the imported products picture
http://www.mad-cow.org/00/jul00_dont_eat_sheep.html#hhh
http://www.mad-cow.org/00/may00_news.html#aaa
kind regards,
terry
