The Ministry of Health has decided not to take action on tins of Brazilian corned beef on local grocery stores shelves which have banned in Mexico, Canada and the United States due to a mad cow disease scare.

"We have the situation under review,'' said chief medical officer Dr. John Cann last night.

"We're keeping an eye on what's happening in the US, UK, Europe and Canada,'' he added. "At this point we don't feel there is a need for us to issue a ban or a recall.'' Local grocers told the Royal Gazette Wednesday that they would continue to sell tins of Libby's, Grace and Hormel corned beef unless advised to do otherwise by the Ministry of Health or local wholesalers.

"The most we'd do at this point is issue a public advisory -- which has essentially already occurred through the media -- but at this point we don't feel we have sufficient evidence to demand a recall of anything,'' said Dr.

Cann.

The ban in the United States will still affect local supplies however, explained the general manager of wholesalers Butterfield and Vallis, Edward Sousa this week. Mr. Sousa said that until the ban is lifted in that country, Bermuda will be unable to receive new stock as everything is trans-shipped through the United States. He also pointed out that no evidence of mad cow disease -- Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) has been found in Brazilian cattle.

Canada is the only country yet to pull Brazilian beef products completely off its shelves as a protective measure.

Dr. Claude Lavigne, the deputy director of Animal Health at the Canada Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said yesterday that Canada took action when the country learned that Brazil had been importing live cattle till 1999. "We had to act on it to protect public health in Canada,'' he said.

Dr. Lavigne said that Brazil has already begun to comply with Canada's requests for information on Brazilian cattle but that he doesn't think the ban will be lifted for "quite some weeks''.

It is expected that the ban will be lifted in all three NAFTA countries at the same time, therefore new imports of corned beef to Bermuda will be working on the same time frame.

Eating BSE-infected beef has been linked to a often fatal, degenerative disease in humans -- new variant Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (nvCJD).

To date nvCJD has been diagnosed in over 90 people, the majority of whom were in the UK.

The Health Ministry also clarified its position on coloured, fashion contacts yesterday. The ministry has decided to not to intervene to prevent over the counter sales of the lenses despite the protests of local eye care professionals.

"We have taken advice from local ophthalmologists and reviewed the situation,'' said Dr. Cann. "We've made a decision that we will not step in and intervene in this case.'' Local eye professionals said it was "mind-boggling'' no action was being taken to prevent sales of the lenses without professional consultation and that, if not properly fitted, the lenses could cause serious, long-term damage to the eye.

However, Dr. Cann said that while the ministry advised individuals to consult professionals before "putting any foreign object in your body'', the ministry "doesn't have sufficient evidence to put a halt to or ban to this practice'' of over the counter sales of the lenses.