Sir, - What a load of hype, hysteria and old bull! The British Health Secretary announced that the "most likely" cause of 10 cases of CJD was eating certain "types of meat offal before these were banned in 1989 and that there was no scientific proof that BSE could be passed to humans through beef. A small risk to beef consumers surely and one that is unproven. But what a reaction. Supermarket shelves cleared of beef products, export bans imposed, land frontiers sealed and talk of culling national herds. Now if only we could get that kind of reaction to known major causes of illness and death.
Take tobacco smoking as one example. The 30 per cent of our population who smoke increase the likelihood of death from cancer, cardiac arrest and stroke to such an extent as to warrant government warnings on cigarette packets in this and other European countries. A very high risk to the health and lives of nicotine addicts and those of us who must endure passively smoking their output. Now when might we expect the shop shelves to be cleared of these noxious weeds, our borders sealed against their smuggled importation and even talk of burning the tobacco crops of our European partners, Greece and Italy. Alas, a pipe dream surely. - Yours, etc.,
Acorn Road,
Dublin 16.