No escaping ‘vaches folles’

Date: 04/04/1996

No, you couldn't avoid the beef in Turin. EU leaders had veal for lunch and Dini declared: “We had no hesitation in eating it and will carry on doing so.”

But when diplomats were served bresaola (thinly-sliced cured beef), one made a great play of putting his hands to his throat and rolling his eyes after being informed that it was indeed beef and not ham as he had thought.

Austrian Premier Franz Vranitzky even suggested the whole fuss was less about “vaches folles” and more about a “presse folle”, a charge the scribes vehemently rejected.

But the staunchest defence of beef was mounted in Paris before the Turin meeting even began. Agriculture Minister Philippe Vasseur waved the French tricolour and brandished the letters VF to impress upon the public the safety and quality of Viande Française.

Unfortunately, many who saw his public relations exercise thought the initials stood for Vaches Folles.