Back in May 1990, one subject filling our newspapers was Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), better known as Mad Cow Disease.

Everybody must remember the then Minister of Agriculture John Selwyn Gummer trying to feed his four-year-old daughter a beefburger in an attempt to demonstrate how safe they were (indeed that’s about all anyone does remember about him). Well that was in May 1990.

But it wasn’t just Gummer. In the Watford Observer of May 25, 1990, we too were trying to calm public fears over the safety of beef.

“Mad cow disease is nothing to get in a stew about, according to Watford beef sellers,” proclaimed a front page story that week.

“Sales at the drive-through McDonald’s in Garston have actually gone up, beef is passing through the checkout at Sainsbury’s as normal and a drop in sales at Tesco’s is being blamed on the weather rather than the disease scare.

“Mr John Franklin, franchisee of the burger restaurant soon got his teeth into the issue to prove his point.

 “‘McDonald’s only uses beef from European Community approved abattoirs. Our burgers are 100 per cent pure beef and are made of prime cuts of lean forequarter and flank,’ he said.

“Mr Franklin said the burgers have never been made from offal, which would include the brain and nervous system of the cow. These are the parts affected by Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or Mad Cow Disease.

“The scare started when scientists began disagreeing about whether the disease could be passed from species to species through eating products from infected animals.

“Sales at the McDonald’s went up last week, showing that burger fans have not been put off.

“Manager of the Watford branch of Sainsbury’s, Mr Paul Ainger, said beef sales did not seem to be down despite the scare.

“‘Sales picked up yesterday. They were down earlier in the week, but are more or less back to normal now.

“‘There does not seem to be much effect although all the figures have not been worked out yet,’ he said.

“A spokesman for Tesco said sales of beef had been down throughout the company. It was not known whether this was due to the scare or the weather.

“‘The sale of beef is cyclical. People do not eat as many heavy, hot meals in the summer, thngs like hotpots and stews, so we cannot be sure.’”

But just when consumers were starting to feel happier about the state of their food, page three of the very same paper, threw everything up in the air again, if you’ll pardon the expression.

“A plaster in a chicken pie, glass in ice cream and a mouse’s head in a packet of green beans. These are some of the gruesome discoveries reported to Watford’s Environmental Health Department,” the report said.

It seemed that during the previous year, there had been 116 complaints made to the department – about one every three days.

“Processed meat and fish products came top of the list for having foreign bodies last year, with eight cases reported.

“Highest on the overall list of complaints was bread and flour confectionery, which probably includes pies and cakes.

“There were six foreign bodies discovered, five cases of the product being out of condition and four found to be mouldy,” the report continued. It’s enough to put you off your burger!

The following week’s paper [June 1, 1990] featured a rather different, but no less unsavoury, story.

“Hungry customers got steamed up and hurled insults at the Clerk of Chipperfield Parish Council when she stopped a barbecue van serving sausages on the Common on Monday,” the report begins.

It continues: “Mrs Gwen Ivory had received a phone call telling her about the van and went to investigate.

“Chipperfield’s new Common Ranger, Mrs Lisa Attwood, was wth her and she was also insulted in front of her young children.

“The barbecue was operated by people who arrived in a van owned by Cobra Carpets, a company based in the neighbouring village of Bovingdon.

“Mrs Ivory said the traders had been breaking several by-laws setting up the barbecue on the Common. ‘They were parked more than 15 feet from the road and putting notices on trees to advertise, which isn’t allowed. And barbecues are a fire risk,’ she added.

“She said once the traders were told to go, they apologised and began packing up. But people queuing for burgers became very abusive, yelling and shouting.

“Parish councillor Mr Steve Cox said: ‘These people behaved in a disgusting and disgraceful fashion. You just don’t expect that sort of behaviour in Chipperfield.’”