Most governments introduced procedures for monitoring and testing for the disease, and to implement improved slaughter, inspection and processing for meat, particularly meat for export. They also prohibit the sale of body parts and processed produce, originating as brain or spinal tissues, for animal feed or human food.

A Cattle Tracing System (CTS) was introduced by the UK Government in 1998 in order to improve consumer confidence in beef. It also has the potential to provide researchers with data which could help improve targeting and/or predictive modelling of the BSE epidemic.

Review

Find out where your meat comes from.
Use the CTS to check origin
Check that no MBM has been used.
Ban restaurant table scraps containing meat, litter from poultry pens and pet food from use as cattle feed - just in case.

Possible Policy Statment

We will endeavour to purchase meat from sources where livestock consume feedstuff free from meat and bone meal.

Suggested Indicators

BSE Free herds.
Constituents of animal feed.