It ranged from being completely safe to eat beef to likely to give you a horrible wasting disease. To compound the issues raised by this sensitive issue experts accept that contaminated feed may have been exported to the developing world. Alas, if this is the case, then those least likely to be able to absorb such an enormous problem will have found themselves confronting another dilemma. At present we partly practice this with what are known as multi-lateral negotiations. These also occur in Europe but as we all know the EU finds it very difficult to agree on a policy that is acceptable to all member countries.
Politicians make such decisions mindful of electorates and re-election.
As such, decisions tend to be influenced by what the least progressive will accept. This forces on others a compromise which they probably know will not result in the best case scenario they had hoped for. A considerable proportion of what was publicly owned has been transferred back to the private sector. In some politically sensitive areas of our economic life the consumer now has to pay part and possibly all of the benefits accruing to them. A case that tends to cause emotions to run high is that of higher education, where the contribution paid by the student towards both tuition and maintenance fees continues to increase.