The SIAL show is one of the most important events in the food industry calendar. The Grocer team flew out to Paris this week to provide this three page special focusing on the key issues and product launches. Reports by Clive Beddall, Julian Hunt, Karen Dempsey and Sheila Eggleston The opening day of Sial was overshadowed by an outbreak of BSE panic in the French media. But this time it was French beef that found itself under the spotlight. And French agriculture minister Jean Glavany faced a media scrum ­ plus some tough questioning ­ when he arrived to open the show. The minister defended his administration's record, saying: "The withdrawal of the meat from the market demonstrates that the government departments involved, and the control procedures, functioned properly." The crisis was sparked by Carrefour's decision to recall beef from 39 of its stores after discovering that at least one BSE infected beast had entered the food chain. So worried was Carrefour boss Daniel Bernard about the crisis that he abandoned a state visit to China with French president Jacques Chirac to return home. Carrefour claimed to have been the victim of a scam. And Glavany seemed to agree. "We could introduce every control under the sun and still never be protected from cheating," he said. Glavany also made a point of visiting Sial's meat section to underline his support for the French industry. His walkabout did not include a visit to the MLC stand, where British beef was on display, but not available for tasting. President Chirac touched on BSE in a speech at SIAL in which he said the industry must fix "very ambitious targets" for preventing the disease. He said there were two priorities: "The elimination of all meat and bone meal [in bovine feed] and routine testing for BSE must be fixed now. We will be pioneers in Europe. The imperative demands of public health justify it." {{NEWS }}