French farmer held over sale of 'BSE-risk' meat

Four people have been arrested by French police for allowing the sale for human consumption of a ton of beef from cows which may have been exposed to BSE.

Four people have been arrested by French police for allowing the sale for human consumption of a ton of beef from cows which may have been exposed to BSE.

Remaining samples of the beef were removed from the shelves of Carrefour supermarkets in northern and western France yesterday but the chain's management admitted that an unknown quantity had already been sold to the public in the last few days.

The degree of risk may be slight. The meat came from 11 animals which were part of the same herd as a cow which tested positive for BSE. Under rules applied in Britain, such animals would not necessarily be "suspect".

Under French rules, all animals in the same herd as a cow that tests positive for BSE must be slaughtered and all the meat destroyed. In Britain, only the sick animals are slaughtered.

A cattle farmer and trader in Normandy, as well as his wife, son and an employee, have been arrested for allegedly trying to circumvent the rules. They separated the ailing animal from the rest and tried to sell it a few days later as part of a different batch.

The trader, from Eure in upper Normandy, faces possible prosecution for "fraudulent presentation of goods, threatening human health". The episode comes at an embarrassing time for the French government, when doubts have been raised about the effectiveness of French efforts to eradicate BSE and prevent infected meat from reaching the shops. Members of a British committee on BSE suggested last week that it might now be safer to eat beef in Britain than in France.

Officials in France say the epidemic there has not begun to match the seriousness of the outbreaks in Britain. France has had 152 cases of BSE since 1990. Britain has had 180,000.

Yesterday's events point to the possibility, however, that farmers and traders are attempting to circumvent the French rules. They also draw attention to the differing approaches to the eradication of BSE in Britain and France, which partly explain the French decision to defy the European Union and unilaterally ban UK beef a year ago.

British officials and scientists say that there is no good scientific or health reason to slaughter all the animals in a herd where there is one case of BSE. The disease is not infectious, unlike foot and mouth disease. French farmers are becoming increasingly annoyed by their government's insistence that the whole herd must be destroyed when an animal is infected.