January 26, 2007

UK agency finds untested heifer in food chain

The British Food Standards Agency has been notified that an over Thirty Month old (OTM) heifer entered the food chain without being tested for BSE.

The heifer, which was 10 days over 30 months, had its specified risk material removed, that is, those parts of the animal that would contain over 99 percent of any infectivity that would be present if the animal had BSE.

Most of the meat from the animal, which was slaughtered on Nov 30 at the ABP abattoir in Shrewsbury in England, was sold fresh to catering suppliers, with the remainder going for sale in retail packs.

An investigation into the circumstances of this incident is underway.

Since the OTM BSE testing regime came into force in Nov 2005, about 400,000 OTM cattle have been slaughtered in the UK for human consumption.

This is the third occasion the FSA is aware of when an OTM bovine has entered the food chain untested.