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This paper examines German food safety policy from a discourse‐theoretically informed perspective. It draws on qualitative research, including textual analysis and in‐depth interviews. Its aim is to understand why the occurrence of ‘mad‐cow‐disease’ (BSE) in Germany in the year 2000 led to what some saw as a radical turnaround in food safety policy, the Agrarwende ("Agricultural Turnaround"). The discovery of BSE is conceptualized as a set of ‘dislocatory moments’ that made possible the re‐emergence of previously marginalized discourses and hence a renegotiation of the very meaning of food safety’. By tracing these discourses and the practices, categories and discursive strategies that constitute them, the paper offers insights into a remarkable policy change, both in content and style.