I notice Mr Clayton has realised that there is a potential risk of BSE to children from beef ('Our Children Should Still Not Be Eating Beef', Letters, January 14). This agrees with the scientific calculations of risk that I have found.

At the moment, it is difficult to assume the change in the feed for cattle in 1996 will actually stop BSE taking place as we will not have the proof until around 2001.

The questions is: should we assume that this action does work, or that it does not? For adults who have been exposed to, on average, 50 meals containing meat from cattle that are infected with BSE, there is little advantage in stopping eating beef.

However, for children there does seem to be an advantage of not starting to eat the meals. Re-introducing beef to school meals would be unwise until around 2001 by which time we will find out whether or not the actions taken in 1996 has stopped BSE in cattle in the UK.

Dr Stephen Dealler,

Consultant Microbiologist, Researcher into BSE,

Burnley.

...I agree with Chris Clayton. Let democracy be done provided it is informed. But his letter misinforms.

I haven't seen any "recent proof" that nv.CJD is caused by eating BSE infected beef. I recently read that mice injected with extracted infected matter from BSE cattle suffered damage similar to BSE. I also read of the same experiment some years ago - so what is new about it?

When I go to the butcher for 5lbs of best rump steak he doesn't load an hypodermic syringe with BSE-infected brains and stick it in my rump. He supplies me with good wholesome food.

I bet that if the same mice had been injected with overdoses of York tap water some would have developed problems which when transposed to the York citizens would have been met with howls of derision. Why should this pseudo-science be treated any differently. Science is the search for fact, not the publication of spurious propaganda.

K Barnes,

North View,

Catterton, Tadcaster.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.