The British government warned Japan's farm ministry in 1990 that meat-and-bone meal, an animal-based feed, could be the source of mad cow disease, a ministry report to a study panel revealed Tuesday.
The revelation that the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry was aware of the danger of MBM a decade ago but took no decisive action to prevent the spread of mad cow disease is likely to generate even more criticism of the government's lack of concern for safety.
The warning was contained in a letter sent by Britain's Bureau of Livestock Industry and dated Feb. 14, 1990. The letter said, "Epidemiological investigations have concluded that cattle were most probably exposed to the agent of scrapie via commercial cattle feedstuffs which contained meat and bone meal derived from sheep."