The Department of Agriculture has ordered the closure of a Co Tipperary meat export plant because specified risk material was found in a carcass exported to Britain. According to the Department, one inch of spinal cord was found by the British health authorities in one quarter of beef exported from Clonmel Chilling Company.
The British authorities, who carry out checks on imported food, immediately reported the find to the EU authorities who informed the Department of Agriculture. It immediately ordered the closure of the plant pending an investigation.
A Department spokesman said last night the spinal cord was unlikely to cause any risk to consumers. If the animal was under 30 months old, it would not have been exposed to contaminated food and therefore could not get bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
If the animal was more than 30 months, it would have undergone the Enfer test and would, therefore, have been tested BSE-free. It was important to put the risk in context, he said. However, he said, the material should not have been left in the carcass. A full investigation is to be carried out in accordance with Irish and EU regulations.
Earlier this year there was a number of complaints from the British Food Safety Authority when it found specified risk material in animals from Ireland and France and two Irish plants were temporarily closed for investigation.
Such material includes the organs from animals most likely to carry BSE infection. These are removed on the processing line and sent for rendering and destruction to the Monery plant in Co Cavan.