The government has said it remains undecided over the reintroduction of Processed Animal Protein (PAP) in animal feed. Farming minister Jim Paice said the government had “yet to make a judgement” on the controversial subject, while addressing an NFU fringe meeting at the Tory party conference.image expired

The European Commission proposed reintroducing PAP in animal feed as a means of reducing the amount of grain the union imports for animal feed, however, as PAP was banned after having been linked to the BSE crisis, the majority of people oppose the plans. 

Paice’s comments come despite the Food Standard Agency’s Defra-commissioned response, which, although it acknowledges correctly managed PAP in feed would pose a low risk, advises against its reintroduction, stating that controls would have to be correctly enforced to ensure safety, which could not be guaranteed. The FSA expressed a need for utmost caution when dealing with potential TSE diseases and said the relaxation was not worth the risk.

Nevertheless, Mr Paice told the NFU delegates, "The FSA have discussed it in public and we have their report. We also have reports from various other organisations with all sorts of specialist knowledge and we have yet to make a judgement. But I can assure you that judgement will be based on science and whether there is a demonstrable need to make a change like that."

The comments come after NFU President Peter Kendall and British Poultry Council head Richard Griffiths lashed out at the FSA’s decision, insinuating the agency’s stance was based on public opinion, rather than scientific findings.

Critics of the reintroduction also warn PAP in feed would complicate matters for people who ate fish but no meat and those who followed religious diets, who would not know whether the meat they eat was indirectly contaminated.