- Cattle that had not been tested for BSE were allowed
to slip into the human food chain, a study has concluded.
-
- The Food Standards Agency launched an inquiry in June
after it emerged that some sick and injured animals had not been subjected
to proper checks.
-
- However, the report published on Monday, suggests that
the risk of contracting BSE from these animals was "very low".
-
- And it says the main safeguards against BSE were working
well.
-
- The alarm was raised last year by the Meat Hygiene Service
(MHS), a body which enforces inspection and welfare regulations in slaughterhouses.
-
- It found that two so-called "casualty cattle"
- sick or injured animals - had not been tested at a plant in Scotland.
More cases were detected in April this year.
-
- The MHS later established that 55 abattoirs across Britain
had failed to test 261 animals since January.
-
- The inquiry by the Food Standard Agency has been supervised
by a group of experts led by Patrick Wall, Professor of Food Safety at
University College, Dublin.
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- © BBC MMIV http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3734894.stm
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