FSA issues warning over BSE-infected cheap beef
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has urged caterers to be wary if they are offered cheap beef from non-traditional sources, as legal loopholes mean BSE-infected meat could still be reaching the market.
Anecdotal evidence points the finger at farmers and unlicensed abattoirs, which are allowed to kill cattle for their own use without having to comply with the BSE controls introduced 11 years ago.
"As a result of private kills, it is possible meat which has not passed, or been subjected to, BSE controls may be getting into the human food chain," said an FSA spokesman.
The FSA is urging caterers to make sure they buy from reliable sources and to check that the carcasses have been stamped with the BSE health mark, which shows they have passed BSE controls.
Ian McKerracher, chief executive of the Restaurant Association, had few worries that BSE-contaminated meat might be reaching restaurants. He said most restaurants relied on quality beef from reliable sources.
The FSA said there had been 82 definite or probable cases of vCJD, the human version of BSE, recorded up to September.