Market unruffled by scrapie cull Apart from Channel Four News, the media largely ignored MAFF's move to boost the culling of sheep infected by scrapie, the disease thought to be the origin of BSE. Few consumers noticed the announcement, and those who did saw it as no reason to stop buying lamb. The lack of impact on demand is another snub for those market analysts who reckon fallout from the BSE crisis will hit the lamb trade hard when shoppers eventually realise scrapie is endemic in the British flock. ore likely, others believe, a backlash will not happen because lamb purchasers simply do not care. Repeated false alarms as evidence of the link has become clearer over more than two years suggest the retail lamb market is still dominated by the older consumers who were also relatively loyal to beef through the crisis. If that is true, the MLC still has a lot of work to do in promoting lamb to younger shoppers. But it has certainly made progress in boosting catering sector demand. {{MEAT }}