Shadow Health Minister Michael Dunkley has accused Government of being ?wishy-washy? in its response to the outbreak of mad cow disease in the US.

Mr. Dunkley, who also owns Dunkley?s Dairy, said that despite being one of the largest general distributors and a distributor of beef, he was not contacted by health inspectors from the Department of Health to ask where beef was being imported from.

?We have not been contacted and we are the largest general wholesaler. How can I be sure that other places were contacted as the Minister said in her statement?? he said.

He added that his beef was imported from Nebraska and not New Jersey as was asserted by Health Minister Patrice Minors in a Press release on Monday.

?I would doubt that beef originates in New Jersey,? Mr. Dunkley said. ?The beef is probably put on a ship in New Jersey and that?s about it but most beef originates in the Mid West.?

Lindo?s Market managing director Giorgio Zanol said the store?s meat distributor ? Butterfield and Vallis ? had been in contact with the department. ?They were contacted by the Health Department and our distributor contacted us and everyone they sell to,? he said.

Scott Carswell, vice president of MarketPlace Supermarkets, was also contacted, but directly by health inspectors. ?We spoke to them and they asked where we bring in our beef and in what quantity/quality,? he said.

On Monday, Ms Minors said beef from the US would not be banned after meat from one dairy cow was diagnosed with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease. Currently, eight US states and Guam have reported receiving meat from the Washington State farm where the slaughter originated.

Yesterday Mr. Dunkley said Government needed to educate consumers on how they can contract the disease.

He said through research he learned that people eating the brain or spinal cord of an infected cow could be infected with the disease.

The human form of BSE is the brain-wasting illness Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which paralyses and can kill people who ingest the infected meat.

Mr. Dunkley said the only cut of meat that consumers should be concerned over is ground beef ? unless they are planning on eating cow brain or spinal cord.

?If you?re consuming flank steak or tenderloin you?re not at a high risk but ground beef can have any number of parts of the animal mixed in. Unless you know your supplier and can check what is going in ground beef it could be anything.

?We need to educate people on what mad cow disease is and what to stay away from. We need to take that approach and not some wishy-washy statement,? he said.

Shadow Environment Minister Cole Simons said his main concern was the Island?s livestock population. He said that precautions needed to be put into place when importing animals that may be infected and also inspecting feed.

?The farmers and Government must collectively examine the feed being imported to ensure that the meat and protein contents meet FDA standards and requirements, given that the disease compounds through the ingestion of poor feed, which contain animal and protein products.?

But Westover Farm owner Richard Bascome said vegetable protein feed is the only feed that is available on the Island.

He said feed with bone was banned years ago after the last mad cow scare.

?For years bone meal feed was used in Bermuda but now it is strictly a no-no,? he said.

?There is no need for the Health Department to inspect feed. Go into any feed store in Bermuda and you?ll see a tag and any lab can test it but the label better read exactly what?s in that bag. No one uses feed with bone in it anymore.?