Untested OTM heifer enters the food chain
UK - The Agency has been notified that an Over Thirty Month old (OTM) heifer has entered the human food chain without being tested for BSE. Testing of bovine animals is mandatory in those intended for human consumption that are over thirty months at slaughter.
13 December 2006
2 minute read
The heifer, which was ten days over thirty months, had its specified risk material removed, i.e. those parts of the animal that would contain over 99% of any infectivity that would be present if the animal had BSE.
Meat from the heifer, which was slaughtered on 1 November at Chris Trott and Family abattoir in Bishops Lydeard, nr. Taunton in Somerset, was sold as fresh meat over the counter at the Rumwell Farm Shop in Rumwell, nr. Taunton.
The meat was also used to produce a small number of ready meals, including lasagne, pies and chilli con carne which were sold at the same farm shop. The 'best before' dates for the products were 20-23 November 2006. You should not be concerned if you suspect that you have eaten any of the affected products because the risk to health is extremely low.
Customers of the shop were advised that the products were not suitable for freezing, and therefore it is likely that all the food has been eaten. However, if consumers still have these items at home in the freezer they should contact the farm shop where they bought them.
A full investigation into the circumstances of this incident is underway.
Since the Over Thirty Month old BSE testing regime came into force in November 2005, about 400,000 Over Thirty Month old cattle have been slaughtered in the UK for human consumption. This is only the second occasion the Agency is aware of when an Over Thirty Month old bovine has entered the food chain untested; the other case, reported in November, was at an abattoir elsewhere in the UK.
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