Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the lack of proof of a link between pigs being fed food waste and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease; and what plans they have to revoke legislation preventing food waste being fed to pigs in order to reduce the volume that ends up in landfill

UK legislation on Animal By-Products (ABPs) bans the feeding of all farmed animals with catering waste. This ban was introduced following the foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in the UK in 2001, which is thought to have originated from the illegal feeding of pigs with untreated food waste. The outbreak resulted in the destruction of more than 10 million cattle and sheep and cost the UK economy billions of pounds.

Defra has undertaken studies which show that it might be possible for a range of food waste to be safely fed to livestock but that this is dependent on proper segregation of animal by-products from other material, meaning non-segregated material is an unacceptable disease risk. It is doubtful whether it would be economically viable for potential operators to comply with the controls we would consider necessary for the use of catering waste in feed for pigs.

The UK government has committed to working towards sending zero food waste to landfill by 2030 through its Clean Growth Strategy and Waste and Resources Strategy for England, published in 2018 - http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/resources-and-waste-strategy-for-england. The Environment Bill requires that food waste must be collected from households at least weekly. It should be sent for recycling or composting, ideally through anaerobic digestion which generates energy and produces fertiliser digestate. We will continue to discuss with industries and other stakeholders how we reduce waste and maximise recycling.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease belongs in the family of fatal brain diseases, Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs). The family also includes BSE in cattle, scrapie in sheep and goats and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer. Scientific research indicates that new variant (nv) CJD is contracted via the consumption of products from cattle infected with BSE, the only TSE known to be transmissible to humans. There is no evidence that pigs and poultry can be affected by TSEs.

Legislation for the prevention and eradication of TSEs prohibits the feeding of protein of animal origin to farmed animals, with a few exceptions (e.g. milk). This is to prevent the transmission of TSEs through feeding. Processed animal protein (PAP) made from pig or poultry material is currently used as fertiliser or is exported but is not sent to landfill.