FSA looks into untested case

- Published: 01 January, 2007

An investigation has been launched by the Food

Standards Agency (FSA) after meat from an over

30-month-old (OTM) heifer was sold by a farm

shop in Somerset, although it had not been tested

for BSE.

Meat from the heifer, 10 days over 30 months, slaughtered on 1 November at Chris Trott and Family abattoir in Bishops Lydeard, near Taunton in Somerset, was sold as fresh meat over the counter at the Rumwell Farm Shop in Rumwell.

The meat from the animal 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.

Parts of the animal, such as the brain and spinal cord, which are most infectious in cases of BSE, had already been removed.

In a statement the FSA said that customers should not be concerned if they suspected that they had eaten "any of the affected products because the risk to health is extremely low".

It added that it was only the second occasion the FSA

is aware of that an OTM animal had entered the food chain untested.