BSE, Health Policy and Risk in the EU

Abstract

The ingredients that contributed to the so-called ‘mad cow crisis’ (Ratzan,1998) are in plentiful supply. The crisis mixture, made from ingredients that included (i) a new and previously unsuspected threat to public health, (ii) sensational press and general media coverage of that threat and (iii) uncertainty about the scientific data and explanations for the threat, proved to be highly politically combustible. The political flammability of public health crises is generally increased when health risks and news leaks about threats to health, cannot be contained within national frontiers. When international political pressures are added to domestic ones — national rivalries and suspicions act as an accelerant to purely domestic ones.