The UK's Food Standards Agency has defended its meat inspection process, following several damning reports in the media over the past week on the TB risks from British meat.
One newspaper alleged that beef from cows infected with TB was being used to supply British schools, hospitals and the military, earning the UK government some £10 million.
The FSA responded tersely to the reports, stating, 'The FSA is confident that the inspection systems in place are robust, otherwise we would not allow this meat into the food chain'.
The Agency pointed to the European Food Safety Authority's determination that the risk to humans of catching TB through eating meat is 'negligible', noting that 'there is no documented case where a person has caught TB through eating meat'.
'When people do contract bovine TB, it is usually through drinking unpasteurised milk or through prolonged contact with an infected animal', the FSA said.
'The Agency's meat hygiene inspectors check all meat before it enters the food chain to make sure it is fit for people to eat. Where inspection reveals any lesions caused by TB in more than one organ or region of a carcass, it is declared unfit for human consumption and destroyed'.
'When a TB lesion has been found in the lymph nodes of only one organ or part of the carcass, that organ or part of the carcass and the associated lymph nodes are removed and destroyed. The remaining meat is considered safe to enter the food chain'.
The FSA's statement comes exactly one month after UK farmers in two areas of England were permitted to shoot badgers in a bid to attempt to control bovine TB. Under the highly controversial proposals, around 5000 badgers are expected to be culled in two pilot zones of the south west of England. (2 July)
© 2013 - ESM: European Supermarket Magazine by Ellen Lunney
