The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it had been notified that a cow born before 1 August 1996 had been slaughtered on 19 October 2006 and the meat had been sold through a local bucher in Newport.

Under UK regulations meat from cattle born or reared in the UK before 1 August 1996 cannot be placed on the market.

The incident is the fourth to occur since safety measures were put in place and highlights the continuing problems the FSA is having in ensuring that its BSE regulations are watertight.

The EU relaxed restrictions on the sale of UK meat to the continent last year on condition that stringent BSE controls were maintained.

In the case of the current incident the FSA said the error was not discovered until 12 December. DNA tests confirmed the mistake on 16 January 2007.

Source: FoodNavigator.com