Monthly report of specified risk material and other BSE Control breaches for December 2006
Monday 22 January 2007
The following report from the Food Standards Agency provides a monthly update on specified risk material (SRM) finds and related issues. These reports are posted on the Agency�s website normally during the second week of each month.
All the meat detailed in this report was detained for disposal under the supervision of the enforcement body. None of this meat entered the food supply.
SRM breaches reported over the past month
Imported SRM breaches
No SRM breaches have been reported in imported carcases in December 2006.
Domestic SRM breaches
On 19 December, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), which enforces the regulations in Northern Ireland on behalf of the FSA, a role similar to that of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) in the rest of the UK, reported the discovery of approximately 2 cm of spinal cord, which is SRM, in each of two forequarters of beef. The forequarters were from two over thirty months bovines that had been slaughtered on 14 December 2006 and had tested negative for BSE.
The breach was discovered at Vanstar Meats, a licensed cutting plant in Northern Ireland in a consignment of animals slaughtered in Britain. The spinal cord should have been removed at the slaughterhouse in England, F Drury and Son, prior to despatch to the cutting plant.
The receiving plant was not responsible for the breach. The remainder of the consignment was checked and found to be free from SRM. The affected quarters were detained and subsequently destroyed. Since the breach occurred at a plant in England, the MHS launched a full investigation into the incident.
Background on SRM issues
- SRM is that part of the animal most likely to contain BSE infectivity
- SRM controls remove over 99% of BSE infectivity that may be present in cattle
- By law, SRM must be removed as soon as reasonably practicable after slaughter, stained and disposed of safely