Report: Analysis of Outbreak of BSE & UK's Food Safety Policy

Report: Analysis of outbreak of BSE & UK's Food Safety Policy

Introduction

In this report, we would analyse the outbreak of variant Cruetzfeldt-Jacob disease in the 1986 in United Kingdom. It emerged as a fatal human disease which occurred due to the consumption of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)-contaminated food. The incident changed the way both national and international authorities manage risk now. It led to the development of appropriate institutions and had an effect on various decision making policies (Millstone & Zwaneberg, 2002, pp. 593).

The paper written by Millstone & Zwaneberg (2002) “The Evolution of Food Safety Policy-making Institutions in the UK” would be analysed and the severity of the disease and its effect on the policies would be critically analyzed.

Importance of Separating “Scientific Advice on Risk' from “Political Risk Management”

The BSE Crisis in 1986 led to a number of changes in the institutional and administrative set up of United Kingdom (Weiner, 2002, pp. 317).

The outbreak attracted both national and international importance and led the authorities to determine their level of effectiveness. The incident also led to the separation of “scientific advice on risk” from the avenues of “political risk management”.

After the outbreak, the United Kingdom along with many European countries changed their administrative set up and implemented policies to curb the spread of disease in cases of emergency.

BSE Crisis

The BSE crisis in United Kingdom could be termed as one of the worst policy disasters in the history of United Kingdom. The outbreak of BSE in 1986 attracted global attention and led authorities and general public to question the effectiveness and functioning of its institutions. The outbreak led to a slaughter of more than 3.4 million cattle. The economic costs of the outbreak were estimated to be over £3.8 billion. From the perspective of administrative effectiveness, the BSE crisis led to the dissolution of Ministry of Fisheries, Agriculture and Food (MAFF) in the United Kingdom (Wilson, 2000, pp. 151).

The political risk management had failed and it was evident to the general public that the then government did not have proper policies or had any contingency plans to deal with national emergencies. The institutions of Food and safety were heavily criticized. The incident turned out to be a great help to the opposition which made a viable use of the incident to defame the then government.

A similar yet small scale effect was noticed in Europe, the losses were estimated to be between 0.7 and 1.06 billion. However, in Germany, the BSE outbreak led to massive fallout in the political arena and caused resignation of two sitting government's ministers.

Concept of Risk

The idea of risk needs proper attention in determining the effects of BSE on the policy making in United Kingdom. The United Kingdom BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) crisis led to the slaughter of more than three million cattle. The situation in Europe incurred total damages of over £10 billion (Smith, 2005, ...