Ireland has followed Britain with a warning to people that they should not eat beef with bone in it, including T-bone steaks and rib roasts, as a safeguard against contracting new variant CJD - the human form of mad cow disease.
But the Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, stopped short of the formal ban which Britain is introducing on beef with bone attached. Instead, the Minister said he "wishes to advise" that no boned beef be sold until the matter can be more fully investigated. It is expected that most shops and restaurants will follow his advice, and that boned beef will have disappeared from sale by this morning. However, concern relates only to the bone attached to the meat - once it has been removed, all the cuts can still be sold and eaten. Mr Cowen's move followed his evaluation of the latest scientific information emerging on BSE.
Senator Feargal Quinn, who runs the Superquinn chain of supermarkets, said his outlets would have all beef off the bone by this morning. The Irish recommendation follows independent advice to the British government that BSE may be transmitted in bone marrow and nerve tissue outside the spinal cord. The Government is to consult the European Commission, its veterinary experts and memberstates to establish "what approach should be taken to this new information on a harmonised basis".
Mr Cowen was strongly criticised by Opposition health spokespeople for the "grossly inadequate" manner in which the recommendation was issued. It came in the form of a short statement which, the Opposition claimed, "failed to address inevitable consumer concerns". The absence of detailed explanation of the basis for the decision, and of any specific mention of what cuts are affected, was criticised by some in the food industry. It is estimated that between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of beef sold on the home market is with bone. It mostly involves prime cuts, including T-bone steak and roast rib of beef. The advice is believed to apply also to: fore rib on the bone; top rib, wing rib, porterhouse steak on the bone, sirloin roast on the bone, brisket on the bone, blade bone and oxtail.
While recognising that the risk to consumers was extremely low, Mr Cowen said he wished to advise that until the matter was fully investigated, "no beef with the backbone (vertebral column) attached to it should be sold to the consumer".
"The most practical method of ensuring this is for retail butchers to remove any backbone from beef before sale. Bones removed in this way should be disposed of as unfit for human consumption."
Mr Cowen said his primary concern was to ensure Irish beef was of the highest safety and quality. He stressed that Irish BSE controls were among the most stringent in the EU and substantially different to those in the UK.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, said he had "liaised with the Minister for Health on this matter and agrees with the approach being taken". The Democratic Left health spokeswoman, Ms Liz McManus, said a major statement relating to the safety of Irish beef should have been backed up with relevant information, specific advice for butchers and putting in place a telephone helpline for the public.
"It is extraordinary the Minister did not make a comprehensive statement. This is grossly inadequate. Consumers are very, very sensitive when it comes to their food. There is an onus to provide full advice for them and anyone selling meat."
The statement without adequate information was likely to cause serious concern among consumers, according to Ms Roisin Shortall, the Labour spokeswoman on health. The new chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Dr Patrick Wall, who is due to take up the post next week, was not available for comment.
It is believed the Government stopped short of a complete ban on beef-on-the-bone because the UK did not introduce an immediate ban - it does not come into effect until December 16th - and beef with bone has not been classified as "specific risk material". This material includes brains and spinal cords, and is considered the greatest danger in terms of BSE and new variant CJD.
See also pages 6 and 10
