Written question asked by Gordon Prentice (Labour) on Tuesday, 18 July 2000, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 26 July 2000. It was answered by Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston (Labour) on Wednesday, 26 July 2000 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what safeguards are in place to ensure that mechanically-recovered meat is not contaminated with specified risk material; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what safeguards are in place to ensure that mechanically-recovered meat is not contaminated with specified risk material; and if he will make a statement. [131891] Ms Stuart: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that specified risk material (SRM) controls are designed to ensure that all SRM is completely separated from the parts of the carcasses of cattle and sheep which might be used for food before any further processing, such as the production of mechanically recovered meat (MRM), can take place. These controls are rigorously supervised by the Meat Hygiene Service, which inspects each carcass individually to ensure that all traces of SRM have been removed before the health mark is applied. As an additional safeguard, the SRM rules also prohibit the use of vertebral column of cattle or sheep, which will have been in contact with SRM in the form of the spinal cord, in MRM production.

Secondary information