Does the testing of older animals for BSE ensure consumer protection?
The main method of consumer protection is the removal of specified risk material (SRM) like the brain, tonsils and spinal cord from every animal slaughtered. The SRM have been defined in EU legislation and they have been shown to harbour almost all BSE infectivity, if any is present. The removal of SRM is obligatory in the EU since 1 October 2000. As additional protection for consumers, all animals above 30 months that are slaughtered for human consumption are tested for the presence of a misshaped prion protein called PrPres, which is regarded as a marker for the presence of BSE. The BSE post-mortem rapid tests operate by detecting PrPres in the central nervous system. Following slaughter, a sample of brain or spinal cord is taken from the animal using a special tool. This tissue is taken to the laboratory and tested for the presence of PrPres. Rapid tests are quick and reliable, and allow large numbers of samples to be tested. Routine testing can detect animals presented for slaughte
