As this is written by the Telegraph, a mistake has been made. It is not imported wheat, but imported wheatfeed. Wheatfeed is a by-product of the flour (or wheat processing) industries. The husk is taken off, and the centre of the grain is used to make flour. The high protein and fibre husk is then sold as wheatfeed! That is what has been imported.

By Charles Clover, Environment Editor

A consignment of wheat contaminated with material thought to have been the cause of BSE has been sold to animal feed merchants throughout England in what is believed to be a Government blunder.

The Food Standards Agency said that the livestock feed from Sweden contained animal and fish bones as well as animal muscle fibre, all products banned in Britain and the EU to prevent BSE.

The Agency said the grain was shipped into Tilbury docks in Essex, where it was routinely tested, but it was released and distributed to a number of merchants and feed mills throughout England before the results were available.

Any animal which has been fed any material made from the contaminated products could now be compulsorily slaughtered to comply with rules set in place during the BSE epidemic, which is thought to have been caused by animal feed contaminated with rogue animal proteins or prions.

The Agency wrote to its "stakeholders" on Tuesday to inform them of the possible contamination but only revealed the incident on its website last night.

The Agency said Animal Health, an agency responsible to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, was now investigating a potential breach of Britain's strict transmissible spongiform encepalopathy and animal by-products legislation.

It is also trying to find where the contaminated wheat has gone.

The Agency said it was being kept informed of developments.

Defra was unable to comment on the scale of the problem last night, nor on the size of the wheat shipment involved.

A spokeswoman said: "Until the information emerges from the investigation we are not in a position to comment."

Humphrey Feeds Comment

A number of compounders have been `caught’, having bought wheatfeed from one importer. The importer is not one of the bigger traders whom Humphrey Feeds would normally use. Additionally we only purchase UK origin wheatfeed. Please rest assured that the feed you have on your farm from Humphrey Feeds does not contain contaminated wheatfeed, and therefore will not jeapordise any ruminant or porcine livestock on your farm.