Sir, - Following recent comment in your paper relating to the recent discovery of BSE in French, Spanish and German beef herds, I feel it is necessary to address concerns raised about the composition of feedstuffs used in the production of Irish poultry.
The Irish poultry industry operates a ban on the use of meat and bone meal in poultry feedstuffs. This ban has been in operation since March 1996 and was a proactive response by the Irish poultry industry to consumer concerns over BSE.
It is important to emphasise that in Ireland meat and bone meal use in the production of animal feedstuffs is regulated by the Department of Agriculture and Food and can be included only under licence. No such licence has been issued for poultry feed by the Department since 1996. This is another important indication of just how seriously the Irish poultry industry takes this issue. - Yours, etc.,
Dr Pat Mulvehill,Irish Poultry Processors Association, Clara Road, Tullamore, Co Offaly.
Sir, - now that the authorities have at last come around to what should have been obvious - namely, that we should not be obliging our farm animals to become cannibals - there is, it seems, a perceived problem: what to do with all that bonemeal-rich feed? What would be wrong with recycling it as fertiliser? Our fodder and food crops would probably relish their N, P, K and trace elements in a form more palatable than their usual raw chemical fare. I for one would gladly take a few bags for my organic garden, confident that the soil bacteria would take care of any residual prions. - Yours, etc.,
Roy Johnston, Rathmines, Dublin 6.