Report says BSE not transmitted via milk

BSE cannot be transmitted via milk, according to a study by the EU's Scientific Veterinary Committee. Its findings reaffirm research by the World Health Organisation which found there was no risk from consuming milk or dairy products from an animal with mad cow disease.

The latest findings, however, are much more significant in that the investigation ordered by the EU Commission - amid concerns that BSE could be transmitted via milk - was more detailed, according to an Irish expert on BSE diagnosis.

Experts on the EU committee reported yesterday that they agreed with the WHO findings issued last year, and in particular with the finding that "milk and milk products, even in countries with a high incidence of BSE, are considered safe".

The committee said it could not detect the disease in cows' milk. This cent red on attempts to trace the "rogue protein", called a prion, in the milk. BSE occurs when a normal protein in the cow is mutated into a prion, which in turn damages the animal's brain.

"Bovine milk can, be safely consumed in any form by any species," the latest report stated.

On the possibility that the BSE prion might be in the milk but not detected, Dr Mark Rogers of UCD's Department of Zoology said there was always the theoretical risk of a small number of prions in the milk, but the EU research was saying that the most sensitive assay in the world cannot detect it.