010226 EU Moves To Ban T-Bone Steaks

Brussels, Belgium - The European Union moved closer to banning some of the most popular cuts of beef as part of a package of measures to quell public fear over mad cow disease.

The European Commission approved a ban on meat attached to the back bones of cows that are more than a year old, which would rule out the sales of T-bone steaks and cuts such as Italy's bisteca fiorentina and Spain's chuleta de buey.

National veterinary experts will discuss the proposals, already backed by agriculture ministers from the 15 EU nations. If approved, the measures could become effective March 31.

“With these proposals, we add an additional layer of protection for consumers,” EU Health Commissioner David Byrne said.

The proposals exempt countries where no cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy have been discovered or that have clearly demonstrated effective control measures.

“Sweden, Finland and Austria may be exempted because they have not to date registered any native cases of BSE and are considered to be countries where BSE is unlikely,” the EU executive said in a statement.

Britain is also exempted as far as domestic consumption of beef on the bone is concerned, although exports of British on-the-bone beef will continue to be banned. Portugal is also exempt because of measures its has taken to eradicate mad cow disease.

All exemptions “will be conditional on continued and improved surveillance for the presence of BSE,” including the increased testing of certain categories, the Commission said.

Mad cow disease was first diagnosed in Britain, where 177,500 cows have been infected since the outbreak was detected in the 1980s. Although the number of reported cases is lower elsewhere in the EU, widened testing in the past few weeks has turned up cases in Germany, Italy and Spain as well.

Beef sales have fallen 27% across the EU since October.

The brain-wasting cattle disease has been linked with a fatal human equivalent, new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which has killed some 80 Europeans since the mid-1990s, mostly in Britain.

Feeding cattle the ground remains of other mammals was suspected of spreading BSE before the practice was banned by the EU.

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