Beckett hits back in BSE row

The flawed research could have led to a massive cull

Rural affairs minister Margaret Beckett has defended the government's handling of a blunder in which scientists testing for BSE in sheep examined cows' brains by mistake.

Officials are now trying to find out how sheep and brain tissue samples became mixed up at an Institute of Animal Health laboratory in Edinburgh.

Mrs Beckett said it was "perhaps in error" that the mix-up was made public in the late evening - leading to accusations that she had been trying to hide the news.

IAH scientists mixed up their samples

But she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme she had wanted the information made public as soon as possible.

Mrs Beckett said: "Yes, we didn't have time to brief specialist correspondents - we hadn't known for long enough - yes, we didn't wait and have a press conference in the morning.

"I feel strongly confident that if we had we would have been accused of trying to bury the information altogether."

Mrs Beckett said she first became aware of the mix-up on Wednesday afternoon.

A press release was issued by the Department of Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) at about 2230BST on Wednesday evening.

"Theoretically", BSE could pass from cows to sheep

Peter Ainsworth, the Conservative opposition spokesman on rural affairs, said: "It beggars belief that it took these scientists four years to work out that the sheep brains they were investigating for BSE were in fact cows' brains.

"This is not only a humiliating blow to the credibility of the Institute, but also a major setback to the vital task of restoring public confidence in our food."

The Food Standards Agency said it was stunned by the blunder and called for more research.

But it also pointed out that all current evidence suggested British lamb was safe to eat.

"The risk of BSE in sheep remains theoretical and the FSA is not advising against the consumption of lamb," it said in a statement on Saturday.

'Dreadful mistake'

The IAH study, which cost £217,000, looked at infected brain samples gathered in the early 1990s.

We have no evidence that (BSE) actually is in sheep. This is very much precautionary work

Margaret Beckett

The concern had been that BSE might have got into sheep and its symptoms confused with a related disease, scrapie, which has been around for centuries but has never been shown to affect people.

Early results from the Edinburgh lab suggested this might indeed be the case.

But just two days before the final research was due to be presented to Seac, the expert committee on BSE, it was discovered that tissue samples had been mixed up.

Seac chairman Professor Peter Smith said it appeared the study had been a "complete waste of time".

Ms Beckett stressed there was only a "theoretical risk" that BSE had spread from cows to sheep.

"At the moment we have no evidence that it actually is in sheep. This is very much precautionary work," she said.