Spinal cord has been found in beef imported from The Netherlands into the UK, the UK Food Standards Agency reports this week. Bovine spinal cord is classified as specified risk material (SRM) and is therefore among those parts of the animal most likely to contain BSE infectivity. Under European law, SRM must be removed immediately after slaughter, stained, and disposed of safely. The discovery was made on Wednesday 24 October in one out of 240 Quarters of beef being unloaded at Cumberland Meat Packers Ltd, Coventry. The name of the Dutch abattoir concerned will be added to the list of European abattoirs from which beef containing spinal cord has beenImported into the UK. According to the Food Standards Agency while SRM is among those parts of the animal most likely to contain BSE infectivity, the results so far of BSE tests conducted on healthy cattle across the EU have been described as encouraging, tending to indicate that there is no massive, hidden BSE epidemic in Europe. In theNetherlands there were only four positive tests out of 239,248 animals tested between January and August this year. This figure compares to 24 out of 1,402,601 in Germany, 39 out of 1,389,000 in France, 16 out of 180, 860 in Italy and zero out of 530 in the United Kingdom. Across all EU Member States a total of 145 positive tests occurred from an overall figure of 4,154,659 healthy animals tested from January to August 2001.
