-Caveat Lector- -----Original Message----- From: ProMED-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Friday, June 25, 1999 11:24 PM Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> CJD (new var.), wine alert - France > >CJD (NEW VARIANT), WINE ALERT - FRANCE >******************************************* >A ProMED-mail post ><http://www.healthnet.org/programs/promed.html> > >[see also: >CJD - risk from blood 990420233344 >CJD (new var.), blood donation restrictions - USA 990605093745 >CJD (new var.), blood donation restrictions - USA (02) 990607223230 >CJD (new var.), blood donation restrictions - USA (03) 990608225437] > >Date: 25 June, 1999 >Source: The Times, London [edited] > > >French health inspectors have seized more than 100 000 bottles of Rhone >Valley wine amid fears it might have been treated with powdered cattle >blood, which has been banned in the European Union (EU) since 1997 after >concern over mad cow disease. > >As a government swoop on 14 vineyards in the Vaucluse and Bouches du Rhone >region revealed blood could still be being added illegally to wine as a >purifying substance. One French table-wine exporter, Jean Pistonier, said >millions of bottles of wine containing ox blood could have been exported to >Britain in the years after the ban. > >Blood is traditionally used after vinification to clarify the wine by >eliminating resin and suspended particles. > >The Rhone Valley regional Wine and Spirits Inspection Office said 480lb of >purifying products based on cow's blood had been seized, with more than 100 >000 bottles of suspect wine between June 7 and 14 [1999] in the region >around Avignon. > >Although the vineyards and wine wholesalers involved were located in areas >that carry the renowned Cotes de Provence and Cotes du Rhone AOC or >"appellation d'origine controlee" -- the French label guaranteeing quality >wines -- three quarters of the impounded wine carried the lower quality VDQS >table-wine label. However, the equivalent of 27 000 bottles of an AOC >"natural sweet wine" was seized by inspectors. > >Gerard Bedos, who heads the regional Consumer and Anti-Fraud Office in >Marseilles, assured customers yesterday the Cotes du Rhone and Cotes de >Provence AOC wines were not involved. The impounded wine is being tested to >determine whether it has been treated with ox blood. > >Dried cow's blood had been used for centuries to purify wine until the >European Union banned it as a precautionary measure in November 1997 after >scientists found links between bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and >the human brain disorder Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). > >Jamie Quiot, head of the National Institute of AOC wines, defended the use >of such products. "They are not toxic at all. We only asked for their >withdrawal to protect our image," he said. > >Emmanuel Lerat, of the National Confederation of AOC Wine and Spirits >Producers, said the vineyards found using the ox blood were small producers >using outdated methods such as egg white to purify wine. Such practices are >increasingly being abandoned for more modern and efficient methods, notably >using clay-based purifying substances such as bentonite. > >The affair comes as France has suffered a succession of food scares >involving BSE, dioxin-contaminated poultry products from Belgium, and >allegations of illness caused by contaminated Coca-Cola products and French >unpasteurised cheese. > >Wine producers now fear they will be next to suffer the economic >consequences of customers' fears concerning the safety of their food. > >-- >ProMED-mail ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >............................tg/jw > > > > DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
