Part of BSE tests proofs unreliable

11april2007
Source: Zibb.nl
Two BSE tests which are approved in Europe failed a check of the European agency for food safety EFSA. The EFSA says it worries about the solidness of several BSE tests. In a recommendation, the EFSA states that the fast BSE tests ought to be subjected to a strict quality check.
It needs to be further investigation what causes the erratic results. The results of other allowed BSE tests should also be verified.

The result of tests that fail could be that not all animals infected with BSE are recognized as such. These BSE tests, coming from France and Ireland, failed to recognize BSE especially when the samples were only weakly positive. The two tests concerned are the Enfer test and the so called Speed’it test from the Institut Pourquier. None of these tests is being used in the Netherlands.
For the evaluation, the EFSA used samples of a BSE cow, which were prepared by the European reference lab in England.