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Beef on the bone ban to be lifted
30/11/1999
Popular cuts of beef on the bone - such as T-bone steaks - should be on sale in shops and back on the menus of Scottish restaurants by Christmas, the Scottish Executive announced today.
Following new advice from Scotland's Chief Medical Officer Sir David Carter, Scottish Health and Community Care Minister Susan Deacon today confirmed that she would be issuing a consultation paper proposing a lifting of the bone in beef ban on visible cuts of beef sold through retail outlets, and also beef and beef products supplied directly to the consumer in restaurants and other catering establishments.
This action in Scotland mirrors similar action in other parts of the United Kingdom.
Ms Deacon said:
"This is excellent news for Scotland's consumers - and another step forwards for Scotland's beef farmers. Now that new information has been made available to our CMO from Oxford University, there is now sufficient evidence to lift the beef on the bone ban where consumers can make an informed choice on whether they wish to buy or eat these products.
"The ban on the use of beef bones for manufactured products will remain. We will continue to monitor this ban carefully and - as soon as medical advice indicates that it is safe to do so - lift it.
"This Executive has taken a clear and consistent approach to the issue of food safety - and beef on the bone in particular. Public health must and will always come first. This is a sensible and common sense approach. The risk associated with eating beef on the bone is now very small. I believe that we have carefully balanced that risk with consumer choice. This is the right time to move forward and put high-quality Scottish beef back on the menu."
Sir David Carter said:
"The new estimates from Oxford which I have studied over the weekend confirm that the additional risk to human health from eating beef on the bone is extremely small - smaller indeed than earlier this year. I also recognise that the incidence of BSE is falling. It is for these reasons that I am content to allow a lifting of the retail element of the bone in beef ban - where the consumer has the ability to make an informed choice. In addition, in Scottish herds there is much less incidence of BSE than in similar herds in other parts of the UK.
"I - along with all the other UK CMO's - remain convinced of the merits of a continuing ban on manufactured beef products. Consumers in these cases do not have readily available information to know whether these products are prepared from bone in beef or not. I will continue to monitor evidence on this issue as it becomes available and advise Ministers in due course. BSE is indeed on the wane - but we must continue to adopt a cautious approach. I am determined that we will not allow a terrible disease like vCJD to be given any second chance to claim more victims."
BACKGROUND
1. Following receipt of updated information from the Oxford study, the CMO Scotland has today advised that the additional risk to human health from lifting the bone in beef ban on visible cuts of beef is extremely small. This is consistent with the advice from all the other CMO's in the UK.
2. The Scottish Executive will later today be issuing a consultation document proposing a lifting of the bone in beef ban on visible cuts of beef and beef products supplied in restaurants, on the ground that the consumer can now exercise choice either directly through their purchasing decisions or indirectly by requesting information from restaurant owners and caterers.
3. The ban will be retained on the use of beef bones for manufactured products since consumers here will have no verifiable information on whether such products have been prepared from bone in beef or not.
News Release: SE1511/1999
30 Nov 1999