Safe to eat

On the basis of current knowledge, scientists agree that some bovine products are safe, regardless of the BSE status of a given country. Bovine products considered safe to eat or use include milk and milk products, gelatin prepared exclusively from hides and skins, and collagen prepared exclusively from hides and skins. Infectivity has never been detected in skeletal muscle tissues, from which most quality meat is derived. A number of scientists believe that skeletal muscle is as safe to consume as milk and milk products, provided that such meat has not been contaminated during slaughterhouse procedures.

The incubation period for BSE is very long: 4-5 years. During this period, cattle which have been exposed to the BSE agent show no signs of disease and, until late in the incubation period, have no infectivity detectable in their tissues. If cattle are slaughtered at a young age (preferably under 30 months), the likelihood that beef and other bovine products could transmit vCJD is greatly reduced.

The agent which causes BSE is not distributed evenly through the animal's body, but is concentrated in certain tissues of the central nervous system, most notably the brain and spinal cord. Stringent slaughtering and butchering practices which remove these high-risk tissues have an immediate impact on food safety and can protect consumers even when BSE is established in a country.

The use of wire brushes and other mechanical tools to recover meat scraps attached to the bones and spinal column can pull out infectious tissue and contaminate meat that would otherwise be safe. Such "mechanically recovered meat" is used in certain processed meat products. Some experts believe that the BSE agent was transmitted to humans by products containing mechanically recovered meat which had been contaminated with central nervous tissue.

Page last updated: 7 August 2008