January 29, 2004 Canada Press

Vern Greenshields, a spokesman for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Minister Bob Speller, said the scientific evidence indicates little risk that blood could be infectious. "It's not prohibited in feed in Canada," said Greenshields in a CP. Blood is commonly used as a milk replacement for dairy calves. Most dairy calves are separated from their mothers within 12 months so their mother's milk can be marketed for human consumption.

Some scientists say there is evidence that prions, the infective bits of protein that cause mad cow disease, can spread through blood.

Canadian Blood Services has banned blood donations from people who have lived in the United Kingdom in recent years due to fears their blood may be infected with Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease, the human equivalent of mad cow disease.

"If blood is safe then why are they restricting blood donations from Britain?" asked Mike McBane of the Canadian Health Coalition in the CP report. "It's outrageous."

David Westaway, a neuroscientist at the University of Toronto, said there appears to be an inconsistency in the position of Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency which sets feed regulations.

McBane said Canada's continued use of blood in feed could be used as a reason to exclude Canadian products from the U.S. market.

"They keep talking about an integrated market and we'd better not get caught below standard if we want to sell beef in other countries."

The European Commission concluded in a recent report: "As far as ruminant blood is concerned, it is considered that the best approach to protect public health at present is to assume that it could contain low levels of infectivity."

It is generally believed that mad cow disease arose from the practice of feeding animal parts to animals.

Canada has banned feeding material from ruminants to ruminants, but it makes exceptions for blood, fat and gelatin.

Greenshields said the regulations are under review.

He noted that U.S. authorities are catching up with Canada in some areas, for example, by banning the use of plate waste or chicken litter in feed. (Canadian Press)