BSE and beef

A number of BSE controls are in place in the UK designed to make beef and beef products safer for people to eat

Removal of Specified Risk Material
The main BSE control in place in the UK removes the parts of cattle most likely to contain BSE. These parts are known as Specified Risk Material. Similar controls apply in all other European Union countries.

The Reinforced Feed Ban
It is illegal for cattle to be fed material that contains meat and bone meal, which is thought to have caused the spread of BSE in the 1980s.

BSE testing of older cattle
Cattle aged over 30 months at slaughter must receive a negative test result for BSE before they are allowed to enter the food supply. Any cattle that do not test negative will be banned from the food supply and destroyed. All cattle born before the introduction of the reinforced feed ban in August 1996 will continue to be banned from being used as food.

The BSE testing system took effect on 7 November 2005, replacing the Over Thirty Months rule, which had operated a blanket ban on the sale for human consumption of meat derived from cattle aged over 30 months at slaughter.

These controls are based on current scientific knowledge and are designed to reduce the risk to consumers to an extremely low level. The risk from BSE cannot, however, be removed completely.

The Food Standards Agency's Meat Hygiene Service and local authorities enforce the controls on SRM and BSE testing of older cattle. Animal Health enforces the controls on animal feed.

The Food Standards Agency has published a booklet for consumers that provides updated information on BSE. The booklet also explains the new UK-wide BSE testing controls that, from 7 November 2005, replaced the ban on cattle aged over thirty months from entering the food chain.

The booklet, BSE & Beef: New Controls Explained, describes the framework of BSE controls that applies to older cattle. A smaller leaflet, BSE and Beef: A Brief Guide to New Controls, which summarises the changes and key information, was also published and offered to all major retailers and butchers' associations to be make available to their customers. Both publications are available to download from the links below.