SIPP Public Policy Papers 35

Abstract

On 20 March 1996, a date also known as “Black Wednesday” in the British beef industry, the British Secretary of State for Health announced that a possible link existed between Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or “mad cow” disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), the human variant of mad cow, thus creating environmental uncertainty in the food chain. In the two weeks after 20 March 1996, retail sales of beef products fell in excess of 33 per cent and continued to fall over the following month, clearly demonstrating the preliminary impact of the scare on the purchasing behaviour of British consumers. Massive media coverage about the uncertainty, the lack of information, and what the announcement really meant for food and public safety overtook the political agenda of the British beef industry. Other countries around the world, including Canada and members of the European Union, banned imports of British beef products. Major restaurant chains, including McDonald’s and Burger King, saw their sales decline.