Monday, November 14, 2011

Bullock aged over 72 months enters food supply without being tested for BSE

Bullock aged over 72 months enters food supply without being tested for BSE

Monday 14 November 2011

The Agency has been notified that meat has entered the food supply from a bullock aged over 72 months that had not been tested for BSE. A negative BSE test result is mandatory for cattle slaughtered for human consumption at more than 72 months of age.

It is very unlikely that the bullock was infected with BSE and as specified risk material (SRM) was removed, any risk to human health is extremely low. SRM is the parts of cattle most likely to carry BSE infectivity.

The bullock, aged 75 months and 7 days, was slaughtered at C&S Meats Ltd’s abattoir in Dorset, on 2 September 2011. The error was discovered on 27 October in the course of routine cross-checks of slaughter and BSE test data.

According to BSE regulations, the untested bullock, plus the one slaughtered before should not have entered the food supply. However, by the time the failure was discovered, the associated carcasses had left the premises.

Subsequent checks traced a 20kg piece of meat from the untested bullock that has since been destroyed and indicate that the rest of the meat from the carcasses is no longer in the food supply.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2011/nov/csmeats




a review of other recent bovines entering commerce without being tested for BSE. ...tss




Cow aged over 72 months enters food supply without being tested for BSE

Wednesday 26 October 2011

The Agency has been notified that meat has entered the food supply from a cow aged over 72 months that had not been tested for BSE. A negative BSE test result is mandatory for cattle slaughtered for human consumption at over 72 months of age.

It is very unlikely that the cow was infected with BSE and as specified risk material (SRM) was removed, any risk to human health is extremely low. SRM is the parts of cattle most likely to carry BSE infectivity.

The cow, aged 74 months and 11 days, was slaughtered at Anglo Dutch Meats (Charing) Ltd’s abattoir in Kent, on 11 August 2011. The error was discovered on 6 October in the course of routine cross-checks of slaughter and BSE test data.

According to BSE regulations, the untested cow, plus the one slaughtered before and the two after should not have entered the food supply. However, by the time the failure was discovered, the associated carcases had left the premises.

Subsequent checks indicate that the meat from the carcases was mixed with a large volume of other meat which is no longer in the food supply and is likely to have been eaten.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2011/oct/anglodutch



Cow aged over 48 months enters food supply without being tested for BSE

Tuesday 23 February 2010

The Agency has been notified that meat from a cow aged over 48 months has entered the food supply without being tested for BSE.

It is very unlikely that the cow was infected with BSE and, as specified risk material (SRM) was removed, any risk to human health is extremely low. However, testing is mandatory for cattle slaughtered for human consumption at over 48 months of age.

The cow was slaughtered at Pickstock Ashby Ltd's abattoir in Hartshorne, Derbyshire, on 4 November 2009 aged almost 57 months. The failure was discovered on 28 January during routine cross checks of slaughter and BSE test data. By the time the failure was discovered all of the affected carcasses and offal had left the premises.

The affected carcasses, some edible co-products and offal had been exported. Some meat returned to Britain after processing and some went to other countries. Other edible co-products remained in Britain. Subsequent checks indicate that all of the meat and edible co-product that remained in Britain or that returned to Britain is no longer in the food supply chain. The authorities in the countries that received the exported material have been informed.

Background to BSE testing The BSE testing age was raised to 48 months at the beginning of last year. Cattle aged over 48 months are allowed to enter the food supply provided they have tested negative for BSE. If there is no BSE test, all parts of the carcase must be condemned.

Specified risk material (SRM) is those parts of the animal that contain almost all BSE infectivity, if the animal is infected with BSE.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/feb/over48monthcow



Cow aged over 48 months enters food supply without being tested for BSE

Tuesday 14 September 2010

The Agency has been notified that meat has entered the food supply from a cow aged over 48 months that had not been tested for BSE.

It is very unlikely that the cow was infected with BSE and, as specified risk material was removed, any risk to human health is extremely low. Nevertheless, a negative BSE test result is mandatory for cattle over 48 months of age slaughtered for human consumption.

The cow was aged one day over 48 months when slaughtered on 9 July at G & GB Hewitt Ltd abattoir in Chester. The error was discovered on 24 August in the course of routine cross-checks of slaughter and BSE test data.

According to BSE regulations, the untested cow, the animal slaughtered before and the two slaughtered after must not enter the food supply. However, by the time the failure was discovered, all of the associated carcasses had left the premises.

Subsequent checks traced one small batch of meat that has since been destroyed and indicate that the rest of the meat from the carcasses is no longer in the food supply chain.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/otmuntested




Cow aged over 48 months enters food supply without being tested for BSE

Monday 2 November 2009

The Agency has been notified that a 58 months old cow has entered the food supply without being tested for BSE. BSE testing is mandatory for cattle slaughtered for human consumption at over 48 months of age.

However, as all the specified risk material (SRM) was removed, and it is unlikely that the cow was infected with BSE, any risk to human health is very low. SRM is those parts of the animal that contain almost all BSE infectivity.

The cow was slaughtered on 28 July 2009 at Dunbia abattoir in Dungannon. The error was discovered by Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) when a routine annual herd TB test revealed that the cow had been misidentified.

DARD has now established the correct identity and age of the cow slaughtered on 28 July. Checks indicate that all the meat and other products from the untested cow are likely to have been eaten.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2009/nov/over48




Monday, May 12, 2008

BSE YOUNGEST AGE STATISTICS UNDER 30 MONTHS

http://bseyoungestage.blogspot.com/




Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Could we face the return of CJD? Experts fear it may lie dormant in thousands

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2011/11/could-we-face-return-of-cjd-experts.html




EFSA Journal 2011 The European Response to BSE: A Success Story

This is an interesting editorial about the Mad Cow Disease debacle, and it's ramifications that will continue to play out for decades to come ;

Monday, October 10, 2011

EFSA Journal 2011 The European Response to BSE: A Success Story

snip...

EFSA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recently delivered a scientific opinion on any possible epidemiological or molecular association between TSEs in animals and humans (EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) and ECDC, 2011). This opinion confirmed Classical BSE prions as the only TSE agents demonstrated to be zoonotic so far but the possibility that a small proportion of human cases so far classified as "sporadic" CJD are of zoonotic origin could not be excluded. Moreover, transmission experiments to non-human primates suggest that some TSE agents in addition to Classical BSE prions in cattle (namely L-type Atypical BSE, Classical BSE in sheep, transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) and chronic wasting disease (CWD) agents) might have zoonotic potential.

snip...



http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/e991.htm?emt=1




http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/doc/e991.pdf




see follow-up here about North America BSE Mad Cow TSE prion risk factors, and the ever emerging strains of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy in many species here in the USA, including humans ;



http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/10/efsa-journal-2011-european-response-to.html





Monday, September 26, 2011

L-BSE BASE prion and atypical sporadic CJD

http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2011/09/l-bse-base-prion-and-atypical-sporadic.html





tss