New Regulations For Bullocks
It has recently come to light, thanks to the Food Standards Agency, that a bullock over 48 months of age was slaughtered and put to market without having been tested for bovine spongiform encephalitis, BSE or mad cow disease as it is commonly known.
All bullocks over the age of 48 months are meant to be checked for BSE before being slaughtered and sent to market for consumption. The bullock in question was 15 days older than this age limit, yet had not been tested for the disease. Although it may seem arbitrary whether a bullock is 1440 or 1455 days old when it is slaughtered, the protocol is there for a reason – over 4.4 million cattle have been slaughtered in an attempt to eradicate this disease.
Checks have indicated that all the meat and offal left the slaughterhouse, stayed in the UK and was almost certainly consumed. Readers will be relieved to hear, however, that the specified risk material – the part of the carcass at risk from carrying BSE infection – was removed before the meat was sent to market; hence the potential health risk is very low. Nevertheless, it is always a pity when there is a slip in food safety procedures. Perhaps they should be sent on a food hygiene course!
