Ministers may lift a ban introduced during the BSE crisis on the use of animal remains in feed for farmed chickens and pigs over fears that foreign producers are undercutting British farmers.
A consultation on permitting the use of processed animal protein (PAP) from poultry, pigs and insects has opened in Scotland, and it is understood that proposals will be made for England and Wales in the coming months.
The EU banned the use of mammalian PAP in cattle and sheep feed 30 years ago after the emergence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), known as mad cow disease.
The ban was expanded in January 2001 to include the use of all PAP in the feed of animals farmed for food.
Brussels lifted its restrictions in relation to fish feed in 2013 and for chicken and pig feed eight years later under pressure from a powerful European farming lobby.
Boris Johnson’s government emphasised at the time that after Brexit the UK was able to make its own decisions, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) retained the prohibition.
British farmers have since complained of being undercut by their European rivals. In its consultation document, the Scottish government said lifting the ban would “level the playing field with the EU”.
A ban would remain on the use of animal protein of ruminant origin, such as cows and sheep, being fed to ruminants, as required by the World Organisation for Animal Health.
Risk assessments carried out by the Animal and Plant Health Agency suggest that the risk today in the UK from transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), such as BSE, would be very low if the proposal were implemented.
The return to the use of chicken and pig remains in feed and the introduction of insect PAP is also said to have potential environmental benefits by reducing dependency on soya bean-based feed, which is said to be a significant contributor to deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.
The proposals, however, have raised concerns. The first case of BSE was reported in 1986 in the UK. It was spread widely by farmers feeding cattle meat and bone meal made from infected animals.
More than 4 million cattle were slaughtered in the UK and 178 people died of the human variant, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, after consuming infected beef.
In its submission to the Scottish consultation, the British Veterinary Association said it was generally in support of lifting the ban given the low risk of a TSE outbreak, but that it had concerns “over the risks to animal health presented by other potential pathogens such as African swine fever, classical swine fever or porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus”.
“As BSE has demonstrated, unexpected disease breakthroughs can occur with hugely significant animal and human disease consequences,” it said.
“We also have concerns with the risks to animal and public health from importation of animal-derived protein or the products being made from imported meat, given the risk of less effective controls over inputs and ability to ensure quality and safety in the country of origin.
“It is almost certain that once the use of these products is allowed in the UK, there may be pressure to allow their importation from other countries. Before the use of such imported products is permitted there must be a clear and appropriately resourced regime of certification and inspection put in place.”
Prof Andrew Knight, a visiting lecturer in animal welfare at the University of Winchester, said: “I do not think governments should be exposing farmed animals, and consumers, to increased risks of the most serious pathogens, to maximise the profits of an industry.”
The executive director of Animal Equality UK, Abigail Penny, said: “The thought of feeding ground-up chicken heads, feathers, blood and bones to a farmed animal will naturally disgust consumers.
“But what should concern them more is that the experts involved in this process admit that they cannot say with total certainty that feed changes will not be detrimental to human health. If there is even a tiny sliver of doubt about the safety of this measure, why change existing rules and risk it at all?”
The head of Compassion in World Farming UK, Anthony Field, said his organisation could support the feeding of animal products to omnivores, such as pigs and chickens, but that it had concerns over the use of insects.
“Insect production may increase inefficiencies in the system as it could depend on human-edible food including soya and grains which should be fed to people,” he said.
“Given recent evidence that insects are sentient, it is vital to develop proper understanding of their welfare needs during rearing and methods of humane killing before insect farming is developed.”
The executive director of the Insect Institute, Dustin Crummett, said: “Insects produced at scale are largely reared on materials suitable for direct consumption by humans or other farmed animals, meaning they inefficiently add a trophic level to the food system when used as livestock feed.”
A Defra spokesperson said: “We have strict rules in place on what can be fed to livestock to protect against diseases and to maintain our high animal welfare, food safety and biosecurity standards.
“We remain vigilant to the threat posed by BSE and continue to take decisive action to build on our strong progress towards its eradication.”
