Nonsense threatens traditional British beef
An outdated European rule requiring the removal of the spinal column from cattle aged over 24 months is threatening the production of traditional, slow-growing, grass-fed beef cattle.
The rule is a hang-over from the crisis measures that were adopted by the EU authorities to restore consumer confidence in the wake of the BSE scare. And ironically, it has only been applied in the UK since the beef export ban and associated restrictions were lifted earlier this year.
After months of lobbying, the UK beef industry did succeed in securing a limited exemption, to permit the de-boning in butchers' shops as well as in licensed cutting plants. But as time has gone on, it has become increasingly clear that most butchers are not prepared to put up with the additional paperwork, licensing and other regulatory hassle that vertebral column removal entails.
The result has been that demand for cattle aged over 24 months has fallen sharply, a two-tier market has developed and the economics of producing slower-growing, grass-fed cattle have become even less attractive than they were already.
The situation was discussed at a meeting in Belfast this week of the chairs of the livestock boards of the farming unions of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Speaking after the meeting, the NFU livestock board chairman for England and Wales, Thomas Binns, said: "We should be encouraging the production of grass-fed, slow-growing beef cattle that mature at around three years of age. It is good for the environment – especially in the uplands, where landscapes are threatened by the disappearance of grazing cattle; it is good for local economies; and it produces meat that is high in the omega three fatty acids that help provide protection against heart disease and other illnesses.
"Yet all of this is being put at risk because of the over-zealous interpretation of an out-dated and unnecessary rule.
"We want Government and the Food Standards Agency to agree and deliver clear and workable instructions that achieve a balance between proportionate and effective safeguards on the one hand, and consumer choice on the other."
